Disappointment is no respecter of persons. In other words, regardless of your social, economic or religious standing, you will feel disappointment at one time or another throughout your lifetime. We have expectations, something we are hoping to achieve or to receive, that go unmet. The natural human response is to feel discouraged. Despair can kill the human soul and the body will soon follow suite; yet, the fulfillment of hope will make the heart grow stronger (Proverbs 13:12). If you are harboring unrealistic goals and dreams, surrender them to God before disillusionment and opposition compound your discouragement.
Find a friend to pray with you about your discouragement.
Learn from the defeats you experience. Faith in God’s faithfulness will provide
us with inner joy and tranquility regardless of our circumstances (Romans
5:3-4). If you are an authentic Born Again Believer, you are in
the best place in the world to receive encouragement, because God is a master
at comforting His People. No calamity can encroach upon your life that God does
not already know about. In fact, He has a solution previously prepared for
such a time as this (Isaiah 43:1-2). There is no need for us to lose
heart about anything temporal, because what we experience is trivial and brief
when compared to what God prepared for us now and in eternity (2
Corinthians 4:16-18).
God protects, comforts, strengthens and guides those who
love Him and who have an intimate, personal relationship with Him (1 Peter
5:10; John 3:16). The first step in receiving His comfort is to realize
that God is always in control (Ezekiel 38:4; Proverbs 21:1). The
Saints of God throughout the ages got discouraged at times in their life as
well (2 Corinthians 1:8-9). However, nothing that occurs to us during our
lifetime is a surprise to God. He saw it happening before we were ever born (Jeremiah
29:11). Although we do not deserve it, He already planned for our
deliverance through every calamity that will ever befall us (Romans
8:28). Just wait on Him with faith and hope in His faithfulness.
We cannot find joy in life apart from God (Hebrews
13:5). Unbelievers may be happy about certain issues, but they do not have
His deep joy that transcends all human reasoning (Philippians 4:7; Ephesians
3:19). His joy, even in the most disappointing of times, serves as a witness
to the world around us of His love for us. Even when we are weak, Christ within
us gives us His strength to perform His will (2 Corinthians 12:8-10). Christ
in us already overcame the situation, which is discouraging us, and He will
work it out through us for our good (John 16:33; Romans 8:28, 37).
Everyone who is born of God and believes in His Son has His faith dwelling
within us, helping us to overcome the world (1 John 5: 4-5).
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, You who live within us, are greater than any
spiritual force or situation that we will ever experience in this world (1 John
4:4). You fill us with Your peace, which supercedes anything the world has
to offer. Due to Your presence within us, our heart has no need to be anxious
or frightened (John 14:27). We thank You for everything we
face in life. When we see Your hand working out everything to our advantage, even
our disappointments end up encouraging our hearts, (Colossians 3:15). We find our peace in the center
of Your will (Isaiah 26:3).
With God on our side, nothing will every come
against us without His knowledge. - Romans 8:31-32
