Disappointment is a savage beast. It tears you down and leaves you broken on the inside. It’s like the schoolyard bully that never leaves you alone. What’s worse is that disappointment isn’t just a one-time action. It leaves a wound that easily festers and a scar that permanently marks us. Sadly, it happens all too often. Friends don’t turn up, loved ones forget our birthdays, children take foolish actions, employers don’t recognize what we do, our Church ignores us. I’m sure I am not the only one that has felt deep disappointment at the hands of people you love and respect.

There is an insidious problem that surfaces when we are regularly disappointed. We can begin to imbibe a disappointment victimhood mindset that effects the way we view all our relationships. Without realising it we assume that everyone will disappoint us, and if everyone disappoints us then why bother trusting or pursuing relationship with anyone? This mindset effects every single relationship we have and enter. Yet there is something even more problematic, as disappointment victimhood cuts into our being, we begin to project the way others have disappointed us on to God. We begin to assume that God, just like everyone else, will let us down and the devil is right there to confirm and assure us that our false assumptions are correct.

How does one fight this wicked doubt and temptation? First, remember the character of God. The Lord our God is not a man. In the Old Testament the Lord frequently tells his people that he is not like a man who changes his mind. We could say the same thing about how the Lord deals with us. The Lord’s character is by definition good and loving. This means that however you might be perceiving what is happening, that which proceeds from the hand of the Lord, it is good.

Second, remember that there is another interpretation and perspective on what you are facing. The Scriptures make it very clear that the Father in Heaven only gives good gifts to his children. When events take place we interpret it from our own perspective or through the lies of the devil. However, the Lord gives not what we think is good, but what is truly good, so the things we consider to be disappointments might actually be blessings from the right hand of God.

Third, remember that fruit ripens slowly. Things that seem to be disappointments from God today are actually gifts that we will give thanks for in years to come. The devil will point to a present sorrow and tell you that it is evidence that God is unfaithful, and yet as the head of the plant dies in order for new life to begin, so the present sorrow will give birth to a new joy in the Lord. Perspective is a powerful thing.

Disappointment is an unfortunate reality in a broken and fallen world. People and things will disappoint us. However, don’t project that on to God. The Lord never disappoints. When we come to realise this, we can say with Job, “Though he slay me, I will hope in him.”¹ Trust in him with all your heart; he will never disappoint.

1. Job 13:15 ↩︎