It is inevitable that we will reach a place in our life’s journey where we face gut-wrenching disappointment. When things are going well, we don’t think too much about these types of experiences, and we never consider the reality that they will cut us to the core; but life will do it to us in a heartbeat. People and relationships will disappoint us. Jobs will disappoint us. Sometimes, we will disappoint ourselves. The pain of this can flood our souls. It can do so to such a degree that we don’t want to get out of bed or to face our lives head on. When we are in this condition, we’re stuck, and that isn’t what God wants for us.
Elijah the Prophet was a man that walked with God. He faced some very disappointing circumstances, but God never abandoned him. Some biblical scholars have said that Elijah was not exactly a people person. I believe that this is because Elijah spent lots of time in communion and fellowship with God. He had a close relationship with Heavenly Father, and when you have God’s ear and can hear His words, there is very little need for lots of conversation with anyone else. Elijah was known to be somewhat rough around the edges, but he had a rough task. He was a prophet to God’s people, and they were often unruly and disobedient to God’s Word.
God’s people began to worship idol gods under King Ahab’s rule. Elijah told Ahab and his people to repent, and if they didn’t, they would face the consequence of a famine. There would be no water and no food. Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, was an evil woman who did not worship Heavenly Father. She worshipped the idol god, baal, and ordered the prophets of God to be killed. She wanted to kill Elijah as well. By his direction, many of the prophets of the idol god, baal, were murdered. When Jezebel heard about what he had done, 1Kings 19:2(NLT) tells us, “So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you killed them.”
Elijah was doing God’s business. He was doing what God had commanded, and had lived his life this way, but the threat from Jezebel worried him. We have to suspect that he was feeling very disappointed by this constant fight to help God’s people, the Children of Israel, when they so often struggled to remain devoted to Heavenly Father. 1Kings 19:3 tells us that Elijah was afraid for his life. One would think that after everything that Elijah had seen, and the great power he witnessed Heavenly Father demonstrate on his behalf, that he would be fearless. We wouldn’t think that such a man so close to God would ever sink in his heart and be afraid of Jezebel’s threat. This speaks to the fragility of the human frame. Our minds and hearts will sometimes give way to fear and doubt, and we must stand strong in Christ to guard against it.
1Kings 19:4 (NLT) tells us that Elijah sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he would die there, “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.” You and I have nothing like Elijah’s life and circumstances of which to contend, but we can imagine the depth of despair and fear he was experiencing when he spoke those words to God. He was tired of running, tired of fighting, and tired of being disappointed. Many of us can relate to this, I’m sure, but we feel this way when we forget the goodness of God. We forget that He is the supplier of all good things, and that when we are weary and tired, He will infuse us with everything we need to remain strong. Isaiah 40:31 (NLT) tells us, “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.”
The key to being renewed in strength is to trust God! This is the only way to bounce back from heart wrenching disappointment. God will never leave us or forsake us. This is His promise to us, and He never breaks a promise. Numbers 23:19 (NLT) tells us, “God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?” God doesn’t change. It is we who vacillate from hot to cold, from faith to fear. When our hearts are not anchored in God the way that He desires them to be, our minds will not be renewed to His strength, love, and power. We will lose heart when serious situations occur.
God is preparing us this very moment for a time in our futures when circumstances may not be optimal. There may be heartbreak and disappointment down the road, and God is calling upon us to strengthen ourselves now in His Word, to get to know Him better than we do, so that when troubles come, we will not be moved. We claim to be so busy and occupied with the cares of the world that we can’t set aside quality time to spend with God through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, but this is an absolute must. We are required to focus our minds on Jesus, to pray for forgiveness often, and to meditate on his holy name.
Jesus Christ told us in John 14:6 that he is the way, the truth, and the life; and that he is the only way that any person can come to the Father. By this we know we are ushered into the presence of God by Christ. As we stay our hearts and minds on the Son and his love for us, the Holy Spirit that is inside of us will guide us to the throne. There, we will always receive something from God that we need. There is never a time that we go to the throne, and not leave it better than we were.
The disappointment we experience in life is often a signal that we are not spending enough time with Heavenly Father through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We need to be strengthened by Him, just as Elijah was. 1Kings 19:6 tells us that Elijah was sleeping underneath the tree when an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!” This angel had prepared bread for Elijah. Verse 8 says, “So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God.”
Elijah did not have the convenience of the bible. It wasn’t available for him to pick it up and read it whenever he wanted, but God has blessed us to be able to take His Word with us wherever we go. And not only this, through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, God has given us the Holy Spirit. He lives inside of us. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter, (John14:26) and like the angel did for Elijah, he will comfort us with the food of God’s Word, and give us the strength to overcome disappointment, so that we can continue to live for God!■
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
“Getting Over Disappointment” written by JMack. 4theChristianMan.Com© 2017. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.