Dealing with disappointment

We all experience disappointment some time or another. Maybe you are having a worse day than anticipated, maybe someone didn't meet your expectations, maybe a friend let you down or a promise was broken, it might be a huge disappointment or a small disappointment, but it still tries to steal our joy and cramp our style. Your heart feels like it's bleeding and you don't understand why people are so thoughtless, careless or selfish. You feel bad, because you are not sure if you are just overreacting or if it really is something that needs to be addressed. Point is, you just feel hurt and discouraged.

When we live in the Spirit, we can always be in a place of peace and joy. Once in my disappointment God gave me the following picture: my heart is made of clay and as disappointment comes it leaves imprints like footprints on my heart. Holes where it has trampled. At that moment we have a choice, we can allow the holes to harden and dry by harbouring the disappointment or we can choose to let the Spirit work through us, give it to Him and let the disappointment go before it even leaves an imprint on our day. God fills and moulds our hearts until there is no trace of disappointment left.

It's a fight, but it's a choice. We choose what gets us down and what drains us. We have the Spirit in us and if we choose to submit every situation to Him, He will restore our hearts. If we seek revenge, complain, scold or attack the other party, we only react on the impulses of the flesh and that can never bring healing to our hearts or give us the ability to forgive. I'm not saying that it's easy, it takes practice, but choosing to submit the situation to God and allow the Spirit to work through us, will always lead us into a place of peace and joy and enable us to respond in love.

God can never disappoint us. He is with us every moment and He catches us every time that we slip or fall. Choose Him and call on Him in every situation and do not allow the imprint to leave a mark on your heart. Allow your heart act like a sponge, every time when life squeezes the water out of you, allow the Spirit to immediately replenish you.

May our days never look the same again. May we live with open hearts, undisturbed by the challenges in our daily lives, untouched by the darts of the enemy. May we be fountains of peace, love and joy! 

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33 ESV)

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Information overload!

Photo credit: vi.sualize.us

In the culture that we live in we often receive an overload of information. We have so many resources from books, television to the internet. All these are good and helpful, but can sometimes also be confusing especially since there are so many different opinions around. We gain so much knowledge and I often think that it is quite important to know what to say when. We often have so much to say, because we have so much information in our heads. The wrong words or right words at the wrong time can really hurt someone. I’m not saying that we should compromise, tiptoe around every person or conform to every other person’s view, but rather be wise and be led by the Holy Spirit when we speak.

It is so temping to just blurt out the answer or your view or what you have experienced lately and this can often leave someone with the wrong feeling of discouragement or hurt. We want to speak life into people’s lives and be supportive or helpful, not destructive. Often this takes self-control from our side and requires us to be sensitive to the needs of the people that we are speaking to.

We often have no idea what God is doing in someone else’s heart and what that person is going through. They are also on a journey with God and we need to meet them where they are at, not bombard them with knowledge which they won’t understand or just give our opinion because we can. Especially when their problem is vague and they are not sure what the root of the issue is. It is better to pray and ask God for clarity, instead of sending the person on a tangent, because you think you know what the issue is. It’s not very hard to find issues in ourselves or other people and it can be very tempting to just blurt out their issues which we can spot. This also can be hurtful and not helpful at all.

We need to approach the situation in a mature fashion and if you feel that God is not saying anything, then you also say nothing, rather listen and comfort.  We often have a generic list of things which may cause certain issues and emotions and feel tempted to start working through the list to obtain more answers. I have come to realise that when we approach these situations (people) with our own agendas, we often override God and don’t even give Him an opportunity to speak. This is so dangerous, because we immediately approach the situation with a religious mind-set instead of approaching it with insight from the Holy Spirit.

The same principle can be applied when we approach God, sometimes we need to put our agendas aside and just give Him an opportunity to speak. May we approach every situation with guidance from the Holy Spirit and set our own agendas aside and in so doing learn to hear His voice more clearly and help to address the real needs of people around us.  

“If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.” James 3:3-6

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” Proverbs 18:21

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.” James 1:19