Disappointment (noun): the feeling of sadness or displeasure caused by the defeat of one’s hopes or expectations
The disappointments in my life have been many. The selfish, immature part of me wants to lay them all
out before you, as if your kindness and pity would make
them go away. They won’t.
Our disappointments are different, yours and mine, but we both have them. Yours m are as real and crushing and painful to you as mine are to me, and they linger, needling our hearts, despite our best intentions to leave them behind.
13 Bible Verses & 6 Steps to
Overcome Disappointment.
Believe in God’s plan. Our God is a miracle worker. He can part waters, move boulders, heal the dead (not just the sick, remember,
the dead), save, destroy, bless, and curse. He can do anything, everything, things beyond our comprehension.
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your
thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9
When I say you have to believe, I mean you have to believe that God has got this thing in His hands . He is looking out for you. He is working out a
plan that is bigger than you, and you are going to be better for it in the end.
“For I know the plans I have for you,”
says the Lord. “They are plans for
good and not for disaster, to give you
a future and a hope.” Jeremiah
29:11
Sometimes, it takes a painful disappointment to
teach us a skill or strengthen our faith or to put
us in the right place at the right time. We don’t
know His ways or His thoughts. We just have to
believe in His promise.
Grieve. Things have not gone the way you
wanted. Your hopes and expectations have been
defeated. You need to spend some quiet time
being sad, mourning the way you thought things
would be.
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:18
Cry. Exercise. Read. Do whatever it is that
releases the sadness, the disappointment, the
defeat.
And then, eventually, you have to stop grieving
and move on.
Weeping may last through the night,
but joy comes with the morning.
Psalm 30:5
Disappointment is not meant to define you, my
friend. It is not meant to hold you hostage or
weigh you down into the mire of depression.
Don’t give it that power.
Pray. You had to know this was coming, right?
Spend some time talking to your Heavenly
Father. Tell Him your heartache. Tell Him about
the plans you had and ask Him to show you why
He’s taken them away. I promise you that He
has good in this for you , and it’s okay to ask Him
what that good is.
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. Romans 8:28
Talk to Him like you’d talk to your best friend.
Your prayer doesn’t have to be pretty or sound
like one at your church. It just has to be honest
and come from your heart.
Give your burdens to the Lord, and he
will take care of you. He will not
permit the godly to slip and fall.
Psalm 55:22
You, my friend, are the godly. You are chasing
after God, trying to do the right thing, seeking a
better understanding of Him. Aren’t you? He’s
talking about you.
Don’t worry about anything; instead,
pray about everything. Tell God what
you need, and thank him for all he
has done. Then you will experience
God’s peace, which exceeds anything
we can understand. His peace will
guard your hearts and minds as you
live in Christ Jesus. Philippians
4:6-7
Listen and wait. Big things happen when we
pray. Sometimes, they are blessings beyond our
expectations.
But when you pray, go away by
yourself, shut the door behind you,
and pray to your Father in private.
Then your Father, who sees
everything, will reward you. Matthew
6:6
Sometimes they happen right away, but usually
they happen later when we least expect them.
Keep waiting. You’ll know when your prayer has
been answered.
Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave
and courageous. Yes, wait patiently
for the Lord. Psalms 27:14
Search for the good. This is a miserable time to
try to be thankful. I don’t know about you, but all
I want to do is wallow in self pity of my dreams
deferred (or dreams lost). This is the time when
it’s hardest – and most important – to find the
good, grab onto it with both hands, and celebrate
it. You need to.
This is the day the Lord has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24
In beginning this post in the middle of the night, I
came to understand that it wouldn’t have
happened if my plans had worked out. I
wouldn’t have been sleeping fitfully. I wouldn’t
have jumped out of bed to write these words. It
was God’s plan for me to write these words. (It
has been an incredibly soothing and cathartic
process). It is also His plan for you to be reading
them right now. I am thankful that He chose me.
Sing and make music from your heart
to the Lord, always giving thanks to
God the Father for everything, in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 5:19b-20
Believe in yourself. You too are part of God’s
great plan. He is preparing you to do His work
right now, even in this time of disappointment.
No matter what burden comes, know that He will
help you stand underneath it, carry it up the hill,
and triumph over it in the end.*
Have you never heard? Have you
never understood? The Lord is the
everlasting God, the Creator of all the
earth. He never grows weak or
weary. No one can measure the
depths of his understanding. He
gives power to the weak and strength
to the powerless. Even youths will
become weak and tired, and young
men will fall in exhaustion. But those
who trust in the Lord will find new
strength. They will soar high on
wings like eagles. They will run and
not grow weary. They will walk and
not faint. Isaiah 40:28-31
God believes in you. You may not feel equipped
to handle this on your own, but He’ll give you
what you need to get through it.
For I can do all things through Christ,
who gives me strength. Philippians
4:13
*The triumph doesn’t always happen when we think it
should. Sometimes, we only triumph over our struggles
as we leave this broken world. A conversation I had
with my pastor illustrates this point:
“Tara, God will heal her.”
“I just don’t know that He will. She is so sick. She hardly
gets out of bed.”
“He is going to heal her. He might heal her body now, or
He might heal her soul in heaven, but you can trust Him
to heal her.”
Wow. The simplicity and immensity of that statement
left me with many tears but complete peace. We can
trust Him to defeat our disappointment, no matter what
it is.
What Bible verses help you to
overcome disappointment? Share
them in the comments.
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