Dealing with Disappointment
I have found 1
Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 18 to be a great help with this. It
reads,
"Give thanks whatever
happens, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
Some disappointments in
life are small - catching a virus, stubbing my toe, but others
can be huge. I make a point of thanking God for whatever I am
uspet about, including things which I wish he would change. I do
it every day! It's an expression of faith. Whether I have brought
this thing on through my own folly, or it has come about some
other way, God is in charge, and he has chosen not to change it,
so thank you God: you know just what you are doing leaving it in
place.
To begin with I found this
hard to do, but I have persevered, and the reward is considerable.
It means I don't have to be uspet about things in my life any
more. That frees me up to care for others (Galatians 6 verse 10).
Sometimes I can see that if
it had not been for some disappointment in my life, I would not
have been in a position to help someone else, so good has come
out of it. But for much of the time, I never see any good coming
out of things which upset me, so I have to take it on trust that
God is working it out for good. See Romans 8 verse 28.
A related issue is that of
shame. The view I have arrived at is that it is okay to be
ashamed of something I have done, but never to be ashamed of who
I am. God did not make a mistake when he created me. See Psalm
139. So I thank God for things I find hard about myself, knobbly
knees or whatever!