Author Ava Pennington
Author Ava Pennington
Handling Disappointment

Handling Disappointment

 

The year 2020 started with such potential. New year. New possibilities. To say it has been a disappointment is an understatement!

Many of us are battered and bruised by canceled plans, health issues, financial pressures, isolation, and even lost loved ones. We’re weary. Actually, we’re beyond weary. We simply don’t have the mental, emotional, and spiritual fortitude to handle one more disappointment. And yet, we have to find a way to keep on keeping on.

For me, handling disappointment (and positive events, too!) begins with remembering who I belong to. My perspective changes radically when I filter everything that happens to me through the attributes of our great God. Consider these examples:

  • Sovereign – God is both Sovereign over world events and the things that happen to me personally. Nothing touches me that hasn’t first been sifted through His fingers.
  • Father – God’s tender care for His children means that even when He allows negative things to happen, they are for my eternal good.
  • Omniscient – while events, from pandemics to murder hornets, may be a surprise to me, they are never a surprise to my heavenly Father.
  • Provider – Because He knows my needs before I do, He will provide what I need at just the right time. Sometimes it will be resources, other times it will be strength, courage, or encouragement by others.
  • Accessible – He is always with me and is only a prayer away.
  • Gracious – He doesn’t give me what I deserve, but He does give me what I don’t deserve – so grateful for His mercy!

These are just a few of the characteristics of God that remind me I can trust Him despite what we’ve experienced this year and what we may yet experience. I hope you can say the same.

In the midst of a year that has been beyond disappointing, what attributes of God bring you comfort as you face the unknown?

 

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7 Comments

  1. Melissa Henderson

    Disappointments will come and go. Knowing our Father holds us in His loving arms brings comfort to me during times of disappointments and during times of joy.

  2. Nancy E Head

    It’s hard to see disappointment for what it often is: God shaping our spirits for His purposes. Great post!

  3. Yvonne Morgan

    What a year for all of us. It has been filled with so many disappointments. But, I am learning to look for the good among the problems. I rely on God’s omnipresent and promises to carry me through. Thanks

  4. June Foster

    This is so encouraging. Thank you. I love to read and share posts which express a bit of my own dearly held beliefs.

  5. Melinda Viergever Inman

    Timely post, Ava! The fact that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love him and who keep his commandments is a bedrock reality that undergirds everything that touches us. He is the Potter, and we are the clay. Therefore, he will shape us using all of these events, our health, our crises, our life events, our family members. . . you name it. And, every one of those things will be orchestrated together for our good, our growth, our strengthening, our increasing trust in him, our ability to hear him more clearly, and to see him in his actions. All of this is for our character formation, and our transformation more into the image of Christ. All very good things! We’ve gone through SO many times of trial, and this has been proven true in so many ways, making this our fallback first thought. When we’re disappointed or afraid or discouraged, we remind ourselves and one another and attempt to pound our stake into the ground right here on this rock solid fact. This year has tested this for all of us.

  6. Karen Friday

    Ava, love how you said everything that happens to us is filtered through the great attributes of who God IS! How comforting!

  7. Jessica Brodie

    I love this line: “For me, handling disappointment (and positive events, too!) begins with remembering who I belong to.” You are right! It puts everything into perspective.

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