Dealing with Disappointment
 

Dealing with Disappointment

Do not [earnestly] remember the former things; neither consider the things of old. —Isaiah 43:18

All of us must face and deal with disappointment at different times. No person alive has everything happen in life the way they want in the way they expect.

When things don't prosper or succeed according to our plan, the first thing we feel is disappointment. This is normal. There is nothing wrong with feeling disappointed. But we must know what to do with that feeling, or it will move into something more serious. In the world we cannot live without disappointment, but in Jesus we can always be given re-appointment!

In Philippians 3:13 the apostle Paul says, "But one thing I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead." Paul stated that one thing of greatest importance to him was to let go of what lay behind and press toward the things that were ahead! When we get disappointed, then immediately get re-appointed, that's exactly what we're doing. We're letting go of the causes for the disappointment and pressing toward what God has for us. We get a new vision, plan, idea, a fresh outlook, a new mind-set, and we change our focus to that. We decide to go on!

From the book New Day, New You: 365 Devotions for Enjoying Everyday Life by Joyce Meyer.

If I have disappointment in my life, it is generally because I have put high expectations on others or on myself.

I needed to lower my expectations so that I had reachable goals. I had to learn that not everyone can meet my expectations, and I shouldn't project my 'stuff' onto others. When we give, it comes back to us. Not always from the same source, and it isn't always positive if we don't do with the right intent and motive.

When you rely on the Self or others, if God isn't in the equation, there is a good chance that things just might not work out.