Disappointment is Acid

Disappointment is Acid.

This is for the Christian:

“The level and duration of your disappointment is in direct proportion to the intensity of your Christianity.”

Christians are called to suffer, but suffering is not disappointment.

Christians are called to prosper, but prospering is not disappointment.

(what?)

I am not a “word-smith”. Nor do I pretend to be classically trained in literature. With that, I know (as do you) what the word “disappointment” means.

And the quote:

“The level and duration of your disappointment is in direct proportion to the intensity of your Christianity.”, is telling for who you are in Christ.

If we truly follow to the end what it means to be a Christian in this “pre-existence”, then we know we are to not love the world: 1 John 2:15.

And we know we are to love God with all of our heart, soul and mind: Luke 10:27.

And we know that the 80 or 90 years that we live on this planet is a vapor considering the millions of years of true-existence which awaits us: James 4:14.

Which brings us to this:

To be “disappointed” is to trust in your own nature above Christ. To be “disappointed” put’s Christ in the back seat of your Christianity.

To feel compassion, and love is Christian. To be disappointed is not.

Disappointment leads to bitterness, hate and envy… and ultimately bondage.

Because I trust in Christ, who or what can disappoint me? I know what is true, and I know Who goes before me…

Disappointment for the Christian should be an emotion of opportunity:

Someone let me down, I begin to feel disappointed (which would lead to bitterness, then death). At the feeling of disappointment, I have opportunity to approach the situation as a Christian, which is: compassion for the individual, wisdom for myself to appropriate my goals differently in the future for a better outcome, and an opportunity to acknowledge Christ as first in my life and not the pain of living on the planet… and all of that leads to a “closer walk with Jesus.” Read Ephesians 6:10 and John chapters 15 and 16.

Otherwise, I can feel sorry for myself… woe is me…

SELF PITY

I never saw a wild thing

sorry for itself.

A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough

without ever having felt sorry for itself.

~ D.H. Lawrence

O.K., this is for you detractors.. “would you feel disappointed if devastation hit your family, wouldn’t that be a right emotion?”

Let’s take it a step further: I have a large family. Let’s say a close member of my family dies… would that disappoint me?

I would feel, not disappointment, but anguish. Yes, anguish can lead to disappointment, which then ultimately leads to destruction.

So what would I, as a Christian, do?

1 Peter 1:7 states that the trying of our faith is more precious than gold. Who I become on this planet, in this life, is infinitely more important than what I accomplish.

Who you become, as you roam the earth, is more important than what you accomplish.

Read Hebrews chapter 12 and 1 Peter chapters 3 and 4; we grow in Christ through chastening, trials, and problems.

So what would I do? I would do what Job did after hearing his sons and daughters were killed, most of his servants were killed, lost his ranch house plus 7000 of his sheep and 3000 of his camels (after living a more than righteous life):

“Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshiped, and said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away: blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.”

~ Job 1:21,22

And I will rejoice that I will one day see my loved one in the Glory of Heaven. And I will rejoice knowing that in the Infinite Mind of God, within the Infinitely Complicated Plan of God, that all is well.

And I rejoice.

   JESUS IS LORD

Rev. Daniel Gabriel