DISAPPOINTMENTS

From My Perspective - - -

Disappointment is becoming too common in this world of flux in which we live. There are a growing number of voices that decry the direction and actions of the government. However, while the approval rating for Congress is somewhere near the 20% level, the voters will re-elect those with whom there is both disapproval and disappointment. Along with this are the charade-type lives people live. There are motions in behavior that are unclear and meaningless. There is an attempt to project something that is exaggerated and often devoid of reality. Too often deception becomes an action that is disguised as being authentic but is unable to pass the perceptions of the discerning. An example of this is shared in a post by World Magazine, April 16, 2014, under the headline: “Can A Divided Publishing House Stand?” The thesis is framed with these words: “A Christian publishing group goes from Desiring God to questioning God’s Word.”

What is the issue being reported?  Just two paragraphs give one the sense of the article: “You can be gay and Christian: That’s the message of a book due out next week from a publishing group known until now for its evangelical worldview. But the book will emerge from a new imprint designed to allow the publishing house to avoid alienating its evangelical market…Convergent Books, a publishing imprint under the same corporate umbrella and leadership as the evangelical …group is scheduled to release God and the Gay Christian by Matthew Vines next Tuesday. Vines, a 24-year-old former Harvard student, attempts to refute biblical passages that declare homosexuality a sin.” This serves as an example of both the attempted deception and another basis of disappointment one encounters. The parent company has been known for publishing books written by its best-selling Christian titles such as John Piper’s Desiring God and books by evangelical authors David Jeremiah..."

A person affiliated with Probe.Org opined regarding disappointed with these words: “When I survey my own life, I realize I'm no different than my friends. We all experience disappointment: troubled relationships, poor job evaluations or test scores, death of a loved one, health challenges, social snubs, athletic loss.” He then cautions that: “Disappointment can compound into depression or despair, which may lead to serious consequences.” He then bridges over to this thought: “…despair can contribute to suicide, while hopelessness bred by poverty might manifest as apathy. Values, meaning, and hope appear to act as catalysts for mobilizing energy and finding satisfaction. Without them…life can seem futile.”

The article is a bit lengthy but an excellent point is made regarding disappointment and a need for one to adjust his/her expectations. He writes: “On the one hand, hope can be misplaced. If your highest hope is in achievement, you will eventually be disappointed - success is transient. King Solomon wrote, (1) "As I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless…like chasing the wind" (Ecclesiastes 2:11). On the other hand, if we're so afraid of disappointment that we lower our hopes, we can close ourselves off from what God may have in mind. The proper balance can be elusive. (2) Learn from your defeats. Disappointment and failure build character and patience, when allowed to do so. They can teach you to win and lose with grace, an increasingly lost art these days. In Romans 5:3-4 - "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to endure. And endurance develops strength of character…" Inner spiritual strength, the kind resulting from sincere faith in God, helps cultivate that attitude…”

It has become far too easy for individuals within the Christian Community to blurt out references such as Romans 8:28 and Jeremiah 29:11, usually with the comment, such as: “Well – all things work together for good…” Too often, it sounds like hollow words that are shy of a valid embrace of what they mean in reality. One’s hope in the faithful care and concern of the Almighty God should never waiver. He continues to be more than sufficient and completely able to “…work IN YOU, both to will and to work for his good pleasure (FOR YOU) Philippians 2:13. To avoid Disappointment, We must compel ourselves to “Keep looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith (and hope) – Hebrews 12:2. Consider these things with me.