The Daily Grace - Disappointed

Scanning my e-mail inbox, I stopped in excitement when I saw a particular name. As I opened the e-mail, I held my breath in anticipation of what I would see. Waiting to hear about a manuscript I had sent in, I ready through the e-mail quickly looking for the publisher's response. Disappointment flooded my thoughts, however, when I read the letter. While the assessment had been accurate - the manuscript still needed a lot of work - I couldn't stop the tears from falling from my eyes. I had a significant work to do if I intended to proceed further.

Disappointment is a normal, human reaction to an unmet desire. Proverbs 13:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life". We were intrinsically designed for hope, but living in a fallen world means facing disappointment. What we do with it makes all the difference.

Anytime we let disappointment rule our emotions and lives, we're believing that what we want is more important than anything or anyone else. God wants to bring good things into our lives. As proof, He has offered Himself as the unfailing hope (Rom. 10:11). The problem comes when we think we deserve something; and, we make our happiness dependent on whether we get what we want. In contrast, God asks that we live a life surrendered to and dependent on Him (Ps. 37:3-5)