All of us have experienced disappointment in life, and maybe you’ve experience more than your share and more than you feel is fair. There is minor disappointment, the kind where you can shrug your shoulders and say, “Oh, well” and then move on with life. You wished things would have turned out differently, but you can accept that sometimes things don’t turn the way we’d like. And then there’s major disappointment, something significant which has been the focus of your faith, your future and something you’ve worked so hard to achieve. When you realize things aren’t moving in the direction you hoped, your shoulders don’t shrug they slump beneath the burden of discouraging news.
When we have endured a series of major disappointments, and I think there’s a fairly large percentage of people who see themselves in this category, I have found that disappointment can begin to impact your decision-making in multiple ways:
An erosion of faith: You used to function with such a high level of trust in God. You believed He was leading your life towards his best and were so excited about your future in him.
A serious question regarding the goodness of God: Disappointment, and the discouragement which it produces, can lead to uncertainty in our understanding of God. Now when you hear someone talk (or write, as in the case of this blog) about the goodness of God, there is an uncertainty which rises up within you. You want to believe God is good, but there’s been so much bad in your life, there’s now a question in your mind. You’re not even sure how to define “good.”
An increased fear of failure: Before life’s disappointments started you on a major losing streak, you were willing to take risks and steps of faith. Life with God was an adventure and you knew failure wasn’t fatal or final. Things are different now when an opportunity arises or you sense the Holy Spirit speaking to you about something. Satan plays the “failure card” and reminds you the last time you tried to obey or be a person of faith. Maybe failure isn’t fatal or final, but certainly isn’t fun, and it often hurts, which causes some people to avoid it at all costs.
An inability to make decisions because you don’t want to do the wrong thing (again!): I’ve watched many people become paralyzed [immobilized] by disappointment. As the above factors begin to impact a person’s decision-making process, some get to the point they feel they can’t make a decision. They simply can’t find the resolve and resources within themselves to come to a decision, so they effectively become stuck.
A diminishing of confidence: Another way disappointment impacts us on a personal level is in our confidence. I am thinking of the type of confidence demonstrated by Paul, when he wrote: “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13 NIV) I have found that disappointment can cause us to become a person who says, “I can’t”, even with all of God’s promise to give us strength and to never abandon us.
I am not writing today’s blog as someone who has never experienced major disappointment. I have in the past, and I know I will in the future. In my next blog post I want to look at how we can deal with the disappointments of life.
No comments:
Post a Comment