God, I’m Disappointed …

“Those who hope in me will not be disappointed.” – Isaiah 49:23 NIV

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I knew her name before I ever saw her.

 

Mama was yelling her name across a busy parking lot. Poor Mama. She looked frazzled as she raced along with one baby strapped to her chest, one on her heels, and another on the run.

 

“Emily, wait … EMILY!” she yelled.

 

I looked around to see if I could find her little escapee, and finally noticed a small blur race inside the store.

 

Yes indeed, Mama was having a day.

 

I was there to buy a notebook for my daughter, so I started towards the office supplies; thinking of Mama and Emily. As I turned down an aisle, I saw a little girl gathering a large pile of school supplies on the floor. Was this Emily? I thought. But before I could wonder any longer, Mama came around the corner – wrapped in babies, with her hands on her hips.

 

Then the battle began.

 

Emily wanted, and Mama said “No.”

 

Emily begged, and Mama said “No.”

 

Emily screamed, and you guessed it, Mama said “No.”

 

I edged towards the far end of the aisle, hoping to find my notebook and escape the scene. Tempers were building and Emily shouted at her mama:

 

“Mom, you’re really letting me down, I thought I’d have more!”

 

I froze when I heard her words. Then I thought, Wow God, those are words you hear from us too, aren’t they?

 

“God, you’re really letting me down, I thought I’d have more.”

 

Of course, we try not to speak them. It seems so faithless to tell God He’s disappointing us. Yet, if we’re honest, the thought rises up from time-to-time, though we squash it down hoping He’s not paying attention.

 

So right there, while Mama and Emily battled over glue sticks and staplers, I asked God …

 

What do we do with our disappointments?

 

What do we do when the job doesn’t come, or the marriage doesn’t last, or the child seems lost?

 

What do we do when we’re disappointed with a relationship, with our health, or with ourselves?

 

How do we face tomorrow when the disappointments of yesterday hold us down?

 

What do we do when we just want more – more time, more peace, more love and it never seems to come?

 

Then God was very clear …

 

If you always get what you want, you’ll never understand what you need.

 

What we need.

 

What we need is a Savior with a plan better than any we can dream.

 

What we need is a Father who holds our past, present, and future in the palm of a most loving hand.

 

What we need is a Comforter, a Redeemer, a Shield, and a Warrior to take our desperate wants, and change them into divine needs.

 

What we need is a throne of grace to cast down our seeds of disappointment, so a bitter root doesn’t grow.

 

What do we do with our disappointments?

 

We give voice to them, for our gracious Father knows them already.

 

And then we wait, resisting the urge to race ahead and ignore His call to us.

 

And then we do the one thing He asks us to do …

 

Hope in Him.

 

It seems so impossibly simple.

 

Hope is … Holding On to the Promise of Eternity

 

I encourage you, my disappointed friend, to hope in the Lord today!