When Disappointment StrikesSample

Accepting Our Disappointment 

We love to accept gifts or compliments, but who wants to accept disappointment? Sometimes it feels better to sit in our disappointment than to address it and move past it. Staying in this place somehow allows us to hold on to what we didn’t get and even daydream about what “could have been.” But we can’t continue to rehearse our pain if we want to move past whatever it is that’s left us discouraged and disappointed.

Accepting our disappointment doesn’t mean we condone or approve of what or who disappointed us. It simply means that we recognize that it happened, and don’t act like it didn’t. When we take this step, we’re on our way toward finding true freedom from whatever is robbing our joy. So, let’s do two things to help us accept our disappointment.

Name It

Disappointment is a sadness that occurs when our hopes and desires are left unfulfilled. And yes, even followers of Jesus experience disappointment. But just because we do, doesn’t mean we’re immature Christians. It doesn’t mean we don’t hope in Jesus, and it certainly doesn’t mean we’re shallow. It just means we hoped for a different result than what we got. So, what happened in your life? Did a situation occur that you weren’t expecting? Did someone’s words wound and you can’t seem to forget them? Did a dream seem to die over and over again and you don’t know how to begin again? Once you can name your disappointment, write it down. 

Grieve It

Once you’ve written it down, feel the loss of it. You desired to find hope, joy, and happiness from a particular outcome, but you didn’t get it. And that’s disappointing. Grieving loss is the part that few people like. Most people would prefer to ignore their pain and “move on with their lives.” But, we have to push through and grieve the feelings that accompany the thing we see as a setback. We must be careful that we don’t allow our grief to lead to despair. Grief is a process and has stages. In different stages, we make progress in our healing and then can still be blindsided by the memory of our disappointment. Don’t fret—pushing through our grief is still important and will help us get to the place where hope lives. 

The story of Job in the Old Testament is full of devastating sadness and extreme disappointment. Job literally lost everything but his wife and his own life. He tried to make sense of the loss of his children and livelihood, but his grief was more than he could bear. Yet, he worshiped God and didn't sin in his pain.

Whatever you’re experiencing, no matter how great the devastation of your disappointment, God can handle your sadness, your questions, and the anger you feel in being disappointed. In fact, He wants to handle it. Who God is and what He possesses is what you need during your disappointing season.