When You Feel Disappointed
We face circumstances twenty-four hours everyday, so is disappointment. No one gets to skate through life without it. That is because disappointments are to the soul what a thunderstorm is to the air. Moses’ world must have crumpled when he saw the Red Sea in front of him as he was being chased by the Egyptians, same with the guy next door when the stock market crushed. Both guys were devastated but the difference is that this guy must have saw the incident as a dead end – to his dreams, career, and happiness; whereas Moses, who knows God as He is, viewed it as a crossroad.
When life doesn’t turn out like you expected, it won’t help to be demanding to God, or to have a pity party for yourself, don’t even get jealous, or worst, blame others for your mishaps. Instead, hear God’s message. Along with the other gifts that God gave us, He also allowed each one of us to have a personal line with Him. We can talk to Him anytime of the day and tell Him our concerns and wait for His answers. We can do this through prayer, it doesn’t have to be a formal one, just a simple conversation with Him will do. Aside from this He’ll use our simple conversation with ordinary people to give us encouragements and to create miracles.
See God’s purpose. Behind every problem and disappointment is a purpose. If we see life’s situation through the lens of God we’ll realize that He uses circumstances to develop our character. In fact, He depends more on circumstances to mold us, than He depends on our reading the Bible. And when things get tough be steadfast on our faith “For the Lords is close to the broken hearted; He rescues those who are crushed in spirit.” Ps.34:18.
Worship God’s Son. When we feel abandoned, and out of options, when the pain is great, we turn to God alone. This is when we say our most heartfelt prayer and have our most intimate moment with our Lord, and this is worship. Our most profound and intimate experiences of worship will likely be in our darkest days. This doesn’t mean that God rejoices over our sorrow, likewise, He is delighted to see us trusting in Him amidst our troubles and He is most pleased by our dependency to His plans.
God’s care did not promise to keep us from life’s storms, he promised instead to keep us through them. He will calm the storm around us, but more often than not he’ll calm the storm within us. Let us not be afraid nor be wary of disappointments, for every scar holds a story and each story carries a lesson… a lesson of love from our Father who sees us through it. Live life!
There was once a spider named Sabine who’s envious of her friends Carol the bird, Gina the butterfly, Vanessa the swan and Pauline the earthworm. She resented Carol for her nice penthouse atop the tree and Pauline for that mysterious pad at the basement, while she lays her head every night in her cozy little web. She feels bad every time Gina greets her a good morning because she looks way prettier in her fabulous wings, and Vanessa, for her gracefulness. Can you relate with Sabine? Do you feel resentful when a colleague collects a bigger salary, or do you turn green as a beautiful woman walk past you? Do you question God’s judgment as you see a friend being blessed tremendously? The problem here starts with comparison. As you compare your life’s status to someone else something happens within you; first, unhappiness creeps in. Jealousy and resentment find its way to our hearts as we try to measure up with others. Then, trouble comes in. Every time you try to covet what others have problem arises, try to picture a kid in a company of another child with a toy, surely a fight is inevitable. If you find yourself in this situation, if you’re hurt or resentful, take heed for the Bible has a proposition for us in order to maintain our happiness.
Realize that God has a good plan for your life. Job 36:13 says, “The godless are full of resentment.” If you don’t believe that God can do something about your life you’ll be susceptible to fear, unnecessary worries, jealousy and resentments. Time and again God turns the bad things into something good, if you love Him. God can take situations that are totally bad and turn them around. When people use situations to destroy us, God on the other hand uses it to develop us. If you believe in God and His love you’ll get to understand that, first and foremost, He did not cause our pain, that He did not choose somebody else over us, so don’t get jealous of other people’s blessings. For a person who loves God knows that His creator has a grand plan for him, and that he should just wait for surprises after surprises that’ll come his way. The cross gave us a perfect example of this grand plan, Jesus’ death wasn’t good but God made it a tool for our salvation. For every slap in the face, every insult, whip, every step towards Golgotha, each nail meant names, our names, to be taken to our Father in His resurrection. If you look at everything in your life using God’s eyeglasses, you’ll see things differently, you’ll understand that the whole lot is just a part of His plan, His great plan.
Rejoice in what you have been given. It’s human nature to capitalize on life’s complexities, and in the process we overlook the good things, we take our blessings for granted.. It happens if you focus on the “self”, if you let your “I” take the reigns, happiness and contentment will always be beyond your reach. It can be counteracted if you start to be thankful for all the things, good and bad, that come your way- your health, your family that loves you, the food on your table, your gifts and talents. And to exercise this further, try thanking the Lord in advance, that’s the best profession of faith.
Refocus on helping others. Again, focusing on yourself and your discomforts won’t change the situation you’re in, instead look around you, that way you’ll know that you’re not alone in your predicaments and you’ll end up counting your blessings. Another thing is that God allowed you to have a burden so that you may help others who are in the same situation, that in your pain you can still bring glory to God and be a blessing to another who is in need.
A perfect life doesn’t necessarily mean a problem-free, hassle –free existence. Life perfection is about appreciating your every step. It’s all about doing your best at every moment, but it’s also accepting who you are and where you’re at at this moment. It is taking your part in this grand plan called life. Lastly, it is about who we know, who we get connected with, it must be the one who loves us like no other, the one who got His hands nailed for you and for me. Life is a gift. Celebrate!
Depression is a “whole-body” illness, involving your body, mood, and thoughts. It affects the way you eat and sleep, the way you feel about yourself, and the way you think about things. Pessimism, poor self-esteem, excessive guilt, and self-criticism are all common. You may feel sad for no reason at all. Some depressed individual no longer enjoy activities that they once found pleasurable. You might lack motivation, and become more apathetic. You might feel “slowed down” and tired all the time. Sometimes irritability is a problem, and you may have more difficulty controlling your temper. In the extreme, depression is characterized by feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.Don’t presume that depression is a disease of the 21st century, the prophet Elijah experienced the same thing when he was running away from King Ahab, “Elijah, a servant of God, said, ‘I have had enough, Lord…take my life!” 1King 19:4
In dealing with this predicament, one should be aware of potential problems, like physical fatigue, the “after the high” lows or post-adrenalin depression, constant problems and loneliness. These things most often than not predisposes us to the problem, it makes us vulnerable to the daily “blows” of life. To deal with depression is to keep a proper perspective on our past. As we get tired and swept through the flood of despair, it will be helpful for us to look back and recall the goodness of the Lord, that even during the lowest point of our lives He manages to insert a packet full of love into that situation, to remind us that He is walking that path with us. Another way is to be thankful for every little thing that comes our way, because gratitude affects our attitude towards life and others. Count your blessings! Amidst the problems that come our way let’s realize that there’s more to life to embrace so live and let live. Let’s not waste time sulking. We only have the here and now.
Be proactive in the present. If we feel down in the dumps it’s okey to take a break, rest, recharge and reorganize our perspective. Renew our relationship with friends and loved ones; reconnect with God; and get back in the game. In life’s race it doesn’t matter how long it took you to the end strip nor the number of times you have stumbled, what matters is that you made it to the finish line. Finally, stay positive about God’s promises. “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Cor. 12:9 this is just one of the many promises of God. The Bible is filled with them, we just have to go over those and claim each promises. Believing in the written promises may sound too good to be true, but what more proof shall we need when Jesus took our place in the cross so we may not experience the pain of death ( depression is nothing to that ). There’s no greater love than that.
Answering Life’s Toughest Questions, part 5
When bad things happen we usually exclaim, “It’s not fair!” Life really is not fair, that’s the reality we ought to accept. Injustices come through our lives in different packages; heinous crimes, discrimination, unethical politicians, even our unrecognized efforts. Now, looking at this facet of life we begin to look for reasons, we look at God and ask Him why, in His great mercy, allowed these things to happen. Take notice that God gets blamed for many things that He did not cause. When tragedy strikes, we sometimes try to sound spiritual by saying, “it must be God’s will”- as if planning our heartaches gives him much pleasure. It is true that He can stop terrible things from happening but He doesn’t, that’s because:
He has given everybody freedom of choice. When we choose to ignore what’s right, God does not force His will on us. He also allows other people free choices, and unfortunately from their mistakes they hurt us. Unlike animals that can’t choose but just to live on instinct, He made us special by allowing us to decide whether or not to follow Him, not because we have to but because we love Him.
Judgment is coming. “In due season God will judge everything man does, both good and bad.” Eccl.3:17 One day at the end of time God is going to settle the score. There will be a judgment day when all the hurt caused on innocent people will be corrected, the Bible said so.
To show us that we need a savior. The fact of the matter is that God’s will is not always done. He has a will for each of our lives, but He has given us free wills too. When we .choose to go our own way and commit mistakes, He chooses to limit Himself. And as we cause problems in our own lives we’ll get to realize how much we need Him, that He alone can make our life easy. “We all have sinned…yet now God declares us ‘not guilty’…if we trust in Jesus Christ who freely takes away our sins.” Rom 3:23-24
Because pain can develop character. Our God is more interested in our character than with our pleasure, and for that matter He is willing to use everything to mold us into the kind of person He wants us to be, and He won’t stop until we understand what He is trying to teach us. God can take situations that are totally bad and turn them around. When people use situations to destroy us God on the other hand uses it to develop us. Just think of a skilled artisan who just won’t stop cutting and snipping on an ordinary log until he gets to see a masterpiece.
Armed with these reasons the most proactive response to life’s injustices is to accept that life is unfair. Jesus himself told us that we’ll encounter a lot of sufferings in this world, but He also assured us that He have overcome the world; that He is greater than any adversity and we can trust in Him and His promises always. Do the right thing anyway! We can do this by starting within ourselves, by looking at the good things in others, in doing so we won’t capitalize on our boss’ ungratefulness, or our spouses’ coldness, and focus instead on more productive things. Lastly, let us wait for God’s reward. “These …temporary troubles are winning for us a permanent reward out of all proportion to our pain.” 2 Cor.5:17
We live in a world where people sin and hurt each other. But when we give our lives to Christ and trust Him, He sees us through each situation and gives us the ability to see how He’s going to bring it all together in the end. For now our duty is to see what God can do in our own lives for our development instead of letting the unfair things devastate us, because one day God will wipe the tears of injustice in our eyes, and that’s for sure.
Answering Life’s Toughest Questions part 4
Do you enjoy reading the obituaries? Or are you opting to buy a memorial plan with the same enthusiasm when buying a new house? Yes, it’s very unlikely, simply because we don’t want to think about death, we avoid speaking about it like plague. Well guess what, statistic says that everything that lives will die, this fact is 100% proven. All of us worry about death because we have this fear of the unknown, we have questions that we can’t answer so we might as well evade the issue. But King Solomon once said that “A wise person thinks about death.” Eccl.7:4 It certainly is because the remaining days of our lives depend on how we see the future, death included. Let us ask ourselves, “How am I looking at death?”
Are we looking at death from the Down side? If we do, we view death as something inevitable, a part of every man’s fate as human being. The look on the down side brings despair, because when you see things in this perspective, life seems useless, a rat race. In this perspective death is the end, and that makes it scary because there is no way for us to know what happens next after we die. If we think that death is morbid, we sure are on this category.
Are we looking at death from the In side? The look from this side brings confusion, because these people know in their hearts that there’s something beyond life and yet they do not know where to get the right information about the matter. Wrong information will eventually lead to wrong decisions.
Are we looking at death from the Up side? If there’s such thing as “reliable source” as far as death is concerned, Jesus is the guy. He tells us that whatever decision we make now will make a great impact in our future.
The Bible says, after we die, we either suffer eternal separation in hell or experience eternal celebration in heaven. Just two destinations, both real places.
Hell is a place of physical, emotional, relational and spiritual torture. It’s a place where you are alone for all eternity, a place where you experience emotional sufferings. And most sadly, it’s a place where there is no presence of God – it is where one is eternally separated from God.
On the other hand, heaven is a place where God is the guiding light, where there will be no more tears, where joy and fellowship abound. Where significance is at the very essence of everything and everybody. Where Jesus is among us.
Everybody wants heaven – that’s for sure. Unfortunately, not everyone here wants to have anything to do with a loving God who did everything he can, including sending his Son to die on our behalf, just so we can be with him forever. Some would simply want to be their own boss. They want to “do whatever they want, because it’s my life anyway”. In effect they are rejecting God and his offer of salvation.
Accept his offer of salvation. Make Jesus the boss of your life right now and make y our eternity secured. Remember that you are not really ready to live, unless you’re ready to die. You can only live a fruitful life if you are sure of what happens after you die.
Answering Life’s Toughest Questions, part 3
All of us are slaves of time, we get stressed out for not having enough time to do our stuff, even a seven year old kid cries from not getting to school on time. Not only that it’s not sufficient, time is also unmanageable – remember the times when we have to wait, or when we are miserable? Those times when we don’t have the control over things. Here’s what we should do in order to make the most of those times.
Accept that God has a purpose in both the good and bad times of our life. “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven.” Eccl.3:1 Remember that in happy times, God gives us blessings and for every bad situation, God is shaping our character. We are not here just to take up space; God has a specific plan for each and everyone of us. And those problems are simply temporary setbacks to that purpose. Things might not be according to what we have planned but the thing is, His plans are bigger, and His purpose is greater than any situation you will ever experience. Affirm our faith in God in confusing times. The moment we became Christians we surrendered everything to God including our troubles, it become his. When we try to fight God’s battles in our own strength, we are sure to get defeated. God is trying to tell us to relax in faith, and let Him work through us. We can save a lot of time from worrying by standing firm on the character of God - He is faithful, and by waiting in quiet confidence for His written promises in the bible. So the next time we have a problem, pray to God and thank Him, because there is no situation that He can’t take care of, and that is true faith – to thank Him in advance.
Apply the present time to doing good. “Whenever you possibly can, good to those who need it.” Pr.3:27 is teaching us to use our present time wisely by doing something for others, to think also about others aside from ourselves. Our gifts and talents were given to us not just for us to enjoy, but also a tool for us to reach out to our brothers. The thing is, the bible is urging us to do it now, while we’re still able. God wants us to grab every chance to be of help to others as an opportunity to give love, it’s not surprising because life is all about love, and happiness we feel is in direct proportion to the love we give. Appreciate all our time as a gift from God. 86,400 seconds is given to us by God everyday so we can enjoy our lives. Every waking hour is a gift, so be happy where ever you are. Be contented with all the blessings that come our way. Or, is there a sin you can’t give up? Don’t be stifled by the life you’re living in, it’s a complete waste of time. Come to Jesus instead and make the decision to pursue the kind of life He intended you to have. Anticipate giving an account of your time. Our time is the most precious commodity we have, our time is our life. When it’s time for us to face our creator expect Him to ask us how we spent the time He gave us. Did we use it to get to know His Son? Did we accept Him? Are we able to have a relationship with Jesus? Of course God would ask us these questions, He’s expecting us to live our life looking for Christ. Why, He went bankrupt when He gave us His precious Son.
Our actions revolve around us surely as the earth revolves around the sun, and what we do with our time shows who we really are, it’s the truth of our lives. How do we give God that truth? What answer do we give Him when He asks us about our time? If we want to make God smile while we do our life’s report let’s do something more worthwhile with our time….time is running out.
Answering Life’s Toughest Questions, part 2
Eccl.6: 6 (LB) “Though a man lives a thousand years twice over, but doesn’t find contentment-what’s the use?”
In every survey, the FAQ is about being happy or satisfied. There are also countless books on happiness, that’s not surprising because even Solomon, the wisest and riches king of all, looked for answers to these questions: He tried to be happy by acquiring the highest education, the sweetest pleasure, the greatest achievements, amassing great wealth, and to be very successful. In the end he grew tired of it and finally realized that these things don’t satisfy, everything was meaningless. “So I hated life.” 2:17 He was devastated because all his efforts were in vain. Actually, there is nothing wrong in acquiring all of these, especially if used for God’s glory, it’s actually a blessing.
For us who can identify with King Solomon and is a in the middle of our quest to find true happiness, Jesus has keys to what we’re looking for found in the 8 Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-10).
Get To Know God! (v.3) God is the most powerful being; surprisingly the only thing that He longs for is a relationship with us. If friendship with Him is our privilege, in His end He calls it His pleasure. Trust God when life is disappointing. (v.4) Suffering will always be a part of this big plate of life because we live in an imperfect world with imperfect people. Trusting God means believing that He is in control of everything, amidst the storms in our lives and that He always acts in our best interest. He promised not to forsake us, and He intends to keep that promise until the end of time. Expect God to meet our needs.(v.5) If there is someone who will be able to give us everything and make us happy at the same time, we’re in for a big surprise to know that it’s not our spouses, or our children, not even ourselves. It’s only God, all we have to do is ask. Of course when we do, we should anticipate for an answer, because it means relying on Him and not on ourselves. Remember, He always answers our requests, maybe not with a yes but always with what is best.
Follow God’s instructions. (v.6) Remember our own fathers? Didn’t they remind us to hold on to the rails when going down the stairs? How hard wasn’t it, especially when you love to slide down the rail. If we didn’t obey their instructions we all might be cripples by now. Same thing with our Heavenly Father, let us abide to his instructions, even if it hard, for He uses everything for good in our lives . Cultivate a forgiving heart.(v.7) Bitterness is the greatest barrier to happiness. When you’re hurt you have the option to cry, to hurt yourself, to get even, but you can also choose to forgive instead and move on. By harboring ill feelings towards someone means letting that person hurt us more. “You are only hurting yourself with your anger.” Job 18:4 Maintain a clear conscience. All of us are sinners, and there’s nobody who knew this better and loves us just the same than God, so let us give our sins to Jesus, confess to Him directly. Besides, God doesn’t expect us to be perfect, but He does insist on complete honesty. Build healthy relationships. Relationships are always worth restoring, because life is all about learning how to love. If all it takes to maintain one is to be humble; so as not to be so much focused on oneself, or to be courteous enough to respect our differences, so be it.. Live with an eternal perspective. None of us are meant to live here on Earth forever, a 100 years of inconveniences is nothing compared to never ending happiness. Look beyond what is here and now.
Through the many changes in life, one has to maintain the discipline and temperament of a long-distance runner, who, focused on the end goal, just keeps on running through the inevitable bumps on the road. Be happy!
Answering Life’s Toughest Questions, part 1
King Solomon, in Ecclesiastes 7:24, asked, “How can anyone discover what life means?” That’s exactly what all of us have been asking and searching – the point of life.
It is very important to understand what life really means. If we don’t, life seems useless. Life goes in circles, a rat race. Life will also become tiresome – we won’t be able to see our accomplishments and enjoy those. Life will be unfulfilling – we will never be satisfied. Life will seem insignificant and uncontrollable.
So what is the point of life? The Bible gave us the ultimate answer to this question. “Long ago, even before he made the world, God chose us to be his very own through what Christ would do for us … with his love. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. And he did this because he wanted to!” Eph. 1:4-5 (LB)
We are created to be loved by God. We are the object of his affection. He rejoices when his creatures accepts his love and is adopted to his family.
“And this was his purpose; that when the time is right he will gather us all together… to be with him in Christ forever!” Eph. 1:10 (LB)
Because God’s purpose is for us to be with Christ forever, life here on earth is just a preparation for eternity. If we will focus our attention to eternity rather than the temporal things, our life will have meaning.
How do we prepare for eternity?
Get to know God. Our everyday lives are filled with expressions of God’s love towards us. Unfortunately, we do not recognize him because we do not know him. As we start a relationship with Him, we will know him little by little and enjoy his goodness.
Become like Christ. It is God’s desire for us to grow in character. Becoming like the character of Christ is a process. We shall prepare for eternity by looking to Christ and emulating his ways.
Practice serving. In eternity, God will allow us to do the things we love the most. While waiting for that, we should exercise by serving our fellow men with the ways and things we love the most.
Share God’s purposes to other people. As we enjoy the new found purpose in life, let us make it a habit to make God – the purpose giver – known to our family and friends.
At Grace Place, we are committed to helping you prepare for eternity so when you get to the final exam you’ll know the right answers.