So, has the story
of your life included some disappointment? Mine, too. A few years ago Bev and I turned our lives
upside down making major changes, involving huge expenses financially and emotionally,
to do what we believed the Lord wanted us to do. So far, we have mostly found
heartbreak, stress, and missed expectations. I’m tempted, sometimes, by regret.
I wonder, occasionally, if we made the right choices, if we really heard from
God. I don’t allow myself to dwell on the
disappointment, however, because the past is behind me and – whether I got it
right or wrong – today is here and there
is a life to live!
You can refuse to
take risks, avoid loving others, and protect your own interests. In so doing,
you will avoid a lot of disappointment, but - is that what you really want – to be safely
insulated from both joy and sorrow? In one of his parables, Jesus talked about
a man who lived like that. He took the
gift the master gave him to invest and buried it in a hole. When called to accounting, he told the master,
“I was afraid I might disappoint you, so
I found a good hiding place and secured your money.” (Matthew 25:24-25) He was not commended for his timidity! Jesus called him wicked and lazy. Ouch!
People who are
fully alive, working to make a
difference in the world, and loving others will get hurt. God does not call us to be masochists, looking
for pain or humiliation! He does call us
to serve with abandon, to risk it all, and to be willing to endure disappointment.
“Take up your cross and follow Me,”
Jesus said. It’s not a great recruiting line for the 21st century,
but it is His invitation to the adventure of discipleship. Paul urged Timothy to live courageously and
reminded the young pastor that "Anyone
who wants to live all out for Christ is in for a lot of trouble; there’s no
getting around it." (2 Timothy 3:12, The Message) Happy is wonderful
and I’m glad for those moments when laughter and sunshine come my way. The JOY
of serving Jesus is far better than mere happiness.
So, must we just slog
on, grimly taking what ‘life’ dishes out to us? No, disciple, there are better
choices.
Primary among them
is the critical decision to anchor our hope beyond time and space, in
the Lord! Isaiah watched his
nation crumble around him, invaders come and destroy the city and the Temple,
friends carried off to slavery. He might have slid into despair, but he went to
the Lord and re-affirmed his trust. Yes, he felt terrible grief and enduring
awful disappointment. The rejection he lived with for most of his life because
of his faithful to God’s call makes me shudder, but he looked beyond it. While admitting
his humanity, he inspires us to greater faith with a promise. "Even
youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope
in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
(Isaiah 40:30-31)
Few things release
us from disappointment like the decision to forgive. Forgiveness
is a greater blessings to the forgiver than it is to the forgiven. When we
forgive those who offend us, we give away the demand to make people act in ways
we approve or like. True forgiveness involves our submission to a higher
purpose and a choice give the pain to God. Why? Because we in that He will bring all
things to justice in His time. When we release that person who has disappointed
us to God's court, we find freedom from the anger, hatred, and bitterness that hold
so many as slaves. You, me … we all have
disappointment our Father, so humbly we pray, "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors....
and we soberly hear Jesus warning that “if you do not forgive men their sins, your
Father will not forgive your sins."
(Matthew 6:12)
Then there is that
humble decision to adjust our expectations. Some people spend exorbitant amounts of time,
money, and energy trying make everything fit into their script for life. “It’s just not supposed to be that way. I will
not rest until I make her realize … force him to change … get the justice I
deserve … find the answer I demand.”
Well, go ahead and try, but you and I are not the script-writers for
this drama called ‘life.’ God is. There’s a time to surrender. No, not give up,
nor resign to fate. But, actually
embrace HIS WILL and seek to let Him lead. Hanging tightly onto our plans is a
form of self-centeredness that will always lead to misery, bitterness, and
loneliness. I love the opening lines of Reinhold Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer: “God grant me the serenity to accept the
things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know
the difference.”
If you’re
struggling to make sense of life, start here.
"Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t
try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere
you go;
He’s the one who will keep you on track. " (Proverbs 3:5-6, The Message)
The word from the Word
assures us that we are not lost on the sea of time, random bits of life. We live with purpose,
though sometimes we cannot see it in this moment or month! "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.
For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son,
so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And
having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he
gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he
gave them his glory." (Romans 8:28-30, NLT)
____________________
____________________
Trust His Heart
All things work for our good
Though sometimes we can't see how they could.
Struggles that break our hearts in two
Sometimes blind us to the truth.
Our Father knows what's best for us,
His ways are not our own.
So when your pathway grows dim,
And you just can't see Him,
Remember, you're never alone.
He sees the master plan,
He holds the future in His hands.
So don't live as those who have no hope,
All our hope is found in Him.
We see the present clearly,
But He sees the first - and the last-
And like a tapestry, He's weaving you and me
To someday be just like Him.
God is too wise to be mistaken!
God is too good to be unkind!
So when you don't understand,
When you don't see His plan,
When you can't trace His hand,
Trust His heart!
Babbie Mason |
Eddie Carswell
© 1989 Dayspring
Music, LLC (a div. of Word Music Group, Inc.)
Word Music, LLC (a
div. of Word Music Group, Inc.)
Causing Change
Music (Admin. by Word Music Group, Inc.)
CCLI License #
810055
No comments:
Post a Comment