Disappointment Left Down a Long Lane

Have you ever been disappointed?  I recorded the following journal entry in January in response to a challenge offered by our church.  We were to select a word to represent the new year. That sounds easy enough, but I wrote:

“All I can think of is the word disappointment because I feel very let down by the year and not very hopeful for the following year to be much better!”  

You all, is that not so very sad?  When I read this entry, my heart ached for the girl who penned the words 6 months prior.  I longed to travel back in time and give myself a hug and say, “It will to be okay!  You’re not going to believe what all happens this year.”

How about you?  If you are navigating the road of disappointment, I hope this offers you encouragement.

If the only word I could think of was disappointment, I knew I needed to select a word that was the opposite, so I made a list of antonyms and circled the word “satisfied.”  Satisfied became my word for the year!

In John 15:1 Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.”  My ESV bible comments, “Jesus nourishes people spiritually and satisfies the deep spiritual longings of their souls.  In that sense, those who trust in Him shall not hunger.”

On that sad day, despite my disappointment, I chose to be satisfied in Christ.  I chose to be nourished by the Bread of life! I chose to trust in Him!

I went on to record a very specific list of disappointments in my journal.  Every disappointment that made my list (except for one) has come to completion in some way.

One specific entry read, “We didn’t get the house…I really thought God was going to give that to us.”

For over 20 years, my husband and I have dreamed of living in the country.  We both grew up in rural areas and our souls have longed to return.  I was beginning to give up on the dream until we stumbled upon a house nested on a beautiful piece of land.  It stirred something within us and allowed us to revisit our 20-year-old dream.  Before we could make an offer someone else beat us to it and the disappointment was overwhelming!  My dream sank to the bottom of my soul like it had been tied to a rock and tossed into deep waters.

Now, these six months later we left that same disappointment down a long lane leading to a home that much better suites our needs, nestled on 5 private acres, just a few miles from family.  I’m sure I’ll be sharing a lot more about this later, but for now, friends, do not lose hope!  Keep on dreaming and find satisfaction in the bread of life!  Jesus can nourish you spiritually and satisfy the deep spiritual longings of your soul.

Copyright©2018, Gloria Stucky