disappointment

I've been thinking a lot about disappointment. I'm disappointed - hurt, confused, frustrated and...well...disappointed! but this isn't the first time. and it won't be the last.

as humans, without even meaning to, we place expectations on things - situations, experiences, jobs, relationships. I play out the way I want things to go ahead of time, so why am I so surprised when I'm disappointed? this is life, after all, and Lord knows that the way I plan things out in life have never gone according to plan a. or plan b, c, or k.

and we are people. people who have human flaws and are not perfect. I mess up on a daily basis and often, even without knowing it, disappoint people, too.

we live in a broken world. a world where Satan is prince. how can there not be heartbreak, disappointment and pain?

if you are in any relationship that you have invested time, energy and your heart in, you will be disappointed at some point. nothing in this life is guaranteed. but that doesn't mean that we stop loving or investing ourselves in others. it just means that this isn't our real home.

the Son of God was disappointed by others. I'm sure when one of his followers turned Him in to be tortured and killed, it hurt. I'm sure that when He was crying out to His father in the garden of gethsemane and His closest friends kept falling asleep when they were supposed to be keeping watch, He was disappointed. disappointment doesn't discriminate. not in this world.

this isn't me having a debbie downer moment, this is simply a truth. the good news is that while there is pain, there is compassion. while there is hate, there is love. while we make mistakes, there is grace and forgiveness. and the best news is that it doesn't end here.

the lyrics of Laura Story's song, Blessings, say it beautifully:

"What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy?"

So I'm disappointed, but that disappointment won't last through eternity. thank God.