The Great Disappointment

The Great Disappointment

Acts 2:36-38

“Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said to them, repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Most of us have had disappointments in our lives.  We’ve been disappointed in relationships, our children, our jobs and life in general.  Actually disappointment is part of living, but what comes from it is what really counts.  There are those who when disappoint comes, they blame God, or they walk away from the Lord.  What happens then?

I have observed those who have been greatly disappointed about something they thought would happen and when it didn’t they were filled with anger.  They turned their anger on family and friends and God, because like a child, they didn’t get their own way.  It’s hard to think of disappointment being a good thing, but perhaps it wasn’t the right thing for you; maybe God has something better for you.  How will you ever know what God wants if you don’t trust him? 

Before Jesus went to the cross, they had their hearts and minds set on the thought that Jesus would reign and rule in Jerusalem.  In Matthew, 16:21 “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”  Even though Jesus told the disciples what was ahead for all of them, they didn’t listen.

Going on, in Matthew 20.17-19, “Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the twelve aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”  Jesus talked to the disciples as though he was talking about someone else and not himself.  I believe these men were not convinced that what Jesus was telling them was actually going to happen.  They had such hopes and dreams for the Messiah.

In John 13:7, Jesus tells them, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand”, and in verse 19 he says, “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am.”  Like the disciples, we don’t always understand what God is doing in our lives. We read God’s clear promises in the Bible, yet often give in to stress and doubt when life gets tough.  This is when we learn to lean on Jesus. 

Trusting our heavenly Father is far better than letting disappointment get you down.  Did you ever read a manual about how to handle disappointment?  The Bible is a complete book on it.  In Romans 8:28 “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”   This is one of my favorite verses because I have shared it with so many who are discouraged.  Discouragement comes from disappointment! Why? Because no matter how you feel about things that can happen, we can know that God is going to take care of it all.  Even the disciples had to learn this, because losing Jesus was the greatest disappointment of all, but look 

what came of it.

Salvation and Eternal Life!