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- Oct 26, 2007
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Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But [when] the desire comes, [it is] a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12 NKJV
A guy wants his career to be exciting and lucrative…his favorite team to win it all…his wife to be strong, capable, and gorgeous…his muscles firm and his joints flexible…his kids to be successful…his car to go from zero to sixty in three seconds.
But jobs can disappear. Favorite teams fall short. Marriages struggle and sometimes implode. Bodies age and ache. Kids may jump the rails. Some cars hit sixty only if they go over a cliff.
Disappointment is common. But that’s not a bad thing.
Consider: If you always get what you wanted, how much would you pray? Think God might use disappointments to draw you closer to Himself?
The psalm-writing sons of Korah recognized these truths—even when the disappointment included God’s silence. “My tears have been my food day and night,” they wrote. “I say to God my Rock, ‘Why have you forgotten me?” (Psalm 42:3, 9).
But Psalm 42 also suggests a practical solution: the conscious recognition of God’s worth. “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (vv 5,11).
Let today’s disappointments push you to God, who promises a perfect forever.
Prayer: Father, many of my hopes have been frustrated. May I find true satisfaction in You.
A guy wants his career to be exciting and lucrative…his favorite team to win it all…his wife to be strong, capable, and gorgeous…his muscles firm and his joints flexible…his kids to be successful…his car to go from zero to sixty in three seconds.
But jobs can disappear. Favorite teams fall short. Marriages struggle and sometimes implode. Bodies age and ache. Kids may jump the rails. Some cars hit sixty only if they go over a cliff.
Disappointment is common. But that’s not a bad thing.
Consider: If you always get what you wanted, how much would you pray? Think God might use disappointments to draw you closer to Himself?
The psalm-writing sons of Korah recognized these truths—even when the disappointment included God’s silence. “My tears have been my food day and night,” they wrote. “I say to God my Rock, ‘Why have you forgotten me?” (Psalm 42:3, 9).
But Psalm 42 also suggests a practical solution: the conscious recognition of God’s worth. “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (vv 5,11).
Let today’s disappointments push you to God, who promises a perfect forever.
Prayer: Father, many of my hopes have been frustrated. May I find true satisfaction in You.
