DISPOSITION DURING DISAPPOINTMENT

INTRO:

Have you ever faced disappointment?

Been Overlooked, Taken Advantage of, Not Liked, Cheated?

This week has been challenging for me:

I had a staff member resign in a ministry I oversee. I had the upmost confidence in them and believed they were right for the Job.

I bought a engine, that we found out is bad after investing several thousand dollars in it.

We found a major water leak in our roof here

My cousin almost died and was rushed to the ER unconscious.

Expand out a few months and so far this year:

We had a sprinkler head freeze

Found termite damage in a wall

Had issues with our insurance company and the claim

Our bus was stolen

What is the point of sharing all that?

There is not a person that has walked this earth that is exempt from disappointment.

Sometimes in the midst of the chaos we can feel like we are the only ones that ever go through the struggles that we go through.

Think of the years of disappointment experienced by Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, and Elizabeth. Month after month, year after year, they saw the evidence of their childlessness. Job and Joseph had good reason to be disappointed, too, both in people and in God.

So the real question is this…

WHAT IS OUR DISPOSITION DURING DISAPPOINTMENT

How are we going to respond?

Will you allow it to ruin you?

Is it all you can think of and talk about?

That will reinforce it’s impact on you.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO WHEN DROWNING IN DISAPPOINTMENT?

1. GET UP

1 Kings 19:5–8 NLT

5 Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!” 6 He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again. 7 Then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, “Get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you.” 8 So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God.

Elijah the prophet expected the great evidence of God's power on Mount Carmel would bring revival. Instead, it only put a price on his head. He was so disappointed he asked to die. He sulking under a broom tree.

When we seek God He will sustain us for the journey ahead!!

But so many times…

We take matters into our hands

We Internalize it

We Rationalize and Strategize

We Emotionalize, destroying relationships as a result

RESULTS OF GETTING UP, AND FOLLOWING GOD’S LEAD…

Romans 8:26–28 NLT

26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. 28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

2. GET BACK

STEP BACK: DON’T ALLOW OUR EMOTIONS TO GET OUT OF CONTROL

Put things into perspective

I spent thousands on unusable powertrain parts, but my cousin was fighting for her life. Perspective.

Jesus went out and made whip (Time Consuming) before turning tables over and driving out animals and people

Dwelling upon other people’s decisions about you places them in a position of control and leaves you in emotional bondage.

Resentment can take root if we aren’t careful

I often think, how important will this be to me in 10 years?

Dent in the car with 5,000 miles on it?

Bleach on our new carpet (Connor did that)

I look back now…and it’s water under the bridge…but what was my response? Is that water under the bridge? Or did it harm my relationships?

Hurtful verbal rants

SLOW DOWN: DON’T SIN IN YOUR ANGER

Moses had a anger problem.

He killed the Egyptian, this caused him 40 years of exile in foreign land (Midian)

He broke the ten commandments, this required another trip to Mt. Sinai where God had to rewrite them for him

He struck the rock, this prevented him from leading his people into the Promise land.

3. GET GOING

Don’t camp in the valley of the shadow of death.

Psalm 23:4 NLT

4 Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.

Disappointment is a door not a dead-end…GET GOING

We have to Grow forward through this

Exodus 14:15 NLT

15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving!

Exodus 33:1 NLT

1 The Lord said to Moses, “Get going, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt. Go up to the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I told them, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’

The Example of Faith expressed by 4 men and a paralyzed man on a stretcher

Mark 2:3–11 NLT

3 four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. 4 They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. 5 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.” 6 But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, 7 “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!” 8 Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? 9 Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’? 10 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, 11 “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”

Hebrews 11:1 NLT

1 Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.

Faith is action

God often gives us actions not answers

We cannot ask God to deliver us from something that we continue to feed upon.

Use this as an opportunity to grow. despite how you responded good or bad.

4. GET OVER IT

We cannot hang on to offense, bitterness, resentment.

When we do, we are allowing the offender to have complete power and authority over our lives.

We must forgive (GET OVER IT)

If we don’t “Get Over It,” Disappointment will work like a wedge in our life:

Disappointment…

Discouragement…

Disillusionment…

Depression…

Defeat.

Look at your neighbor and tell them… “GET OVER IT!”

DON’T MAKE ETERNAL DECISIONS BASED ON TEMPORAL CIRCUMSTANCES

Judas betrayed Jesus and then he hung himself

STORY:

In high school I had a good friend that had dated a girl all through HS and one day they broke up during an emotional rant and he pulled out his hunting gun and blew his brains out in front of her.

I had another friend drink himself to death because of unsettled issues with his parents.

Those were very long term decisions based on short term circumstances; removing all hope of healing and restoration.

When we place our faith in God we will begin to see a pattern...

When one door closes another one opens.

Garth Brooks “Sometimes I thank God, for unanswered prayers.”

CONCLUSION:

Allow disappointment to motivate us and become re-appointments