At the beginning of a new year I stop to reflect. This month has been one where I have pored over me; my life, where I am, how I am and where I am going. I look within myself for deeply rooted sensitivities that come up once in a while. I realize that many of them have made me who I am and have brought me to where I am.
As I consider this, I also discover that it is the disappointments in my life that have significantly given fruition to who I am. All of us go through disappointments. There are no exceptions. I go through the “could have, would have, should have” syndrome, but all for naught, because the “haves and have nots” are done.
The one thing, however, that has kept me “in check” has been my faith in God. He has comforted me and has never forsaken me. God comforts me through his word. “But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you” (Isaiah 43:1-2).
God allows disappointments so that I will rely and trust him even more as I go along in life. We can’t live life as he would want for us without him in it. God has always meant well for each one of us. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:8-9).
He is our comfort, our strength, our stronghold and our refuge. What more could we want? Times of disappointment; they’re part of our life; but our reliance on the Lord makes all the difference. The Lord loves us more than we can understand. And for that, I am so thankful. “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…And be thankful” (Colossians 3:15).
ritasalomon 