The moment you read this word, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? – Maybe your latest disappointment or your greatest disappointment. But whatever it might be the feeling is bitter when the wound is fresh. It is because when we wait for something with great expectation, we make plans with hope in our hearts, we put in all our effort to see it come to fulfillment – only to have those hopes dashed against a wall, water being poured on all our efforts – it hurts. When things don’t happen the way we want or the way we always thought it would, when things go beyond our control or when things happen exactly opposite to what we had in mind or when it happens in a way we never even imagined during all the while we worried or when something just hits out on our face out of nowhere – we get sorely disappointed.
So, what do we do when we face such bitter situations in life? Blame someone? –our luck or the stars or the time? It just takes us nowhere! When we are faced with difficulties in life, whom do we go to? God. But when we are disappointed sometimes we have this question on our mind – why did God allow this to happen in my life? If God is good, then why do bad things happen to me? Well maybe God’s definition of good is different from our definition of good! Let us consider an example from the Bible – King David, when you read about him, you’d be able to appreciate how close he and God were. God called him as the man after his own heart. David faced lots of troubles in his life. I’d like to focus on one incident that happened at Ziklag. (1 Samuel 30)
Let me build some background here. David and a set of his soldiers went out to battle, leaving their wives and children behind. They would have traveled on foot, on horse-back, they would have camped in tents, fought the foe with all their might and they won! Now they are on their way back home. The thoughts on their mind would have been – Finally, after all these days I’m going home! I will be able to sleep comfortably, there will be a roof over my head, I will be able to eat home-cooked food, I can spend time playing with my children – telling stories of how we fought, my wife will be thanking God for bringing me safe. What a reunion this is gonna be!
They would have had lots of such expectations at the thought of going back home. But when they reached Ziklag, what did they find? Their city in ruins! It was burning everywhere and their wives and children were nowhere to be found. They would have searched amidst the ruins in vain, they would have called out and got no answer. What a terrible disappointment! They had no idea what was ahead of them – what happened to their family? Where have they gone? Are they alive or dead? So many questions and fears on their mind, they could do nothing but cry bitterly. They would have blamed themselves for not being there for their family when they had needed them most. Then they would have looked for whom else to blame and they decided on David. He was the one who led them to battle. If not for him, they would have stayed at home and when they Amalekites came they would have fought them off. They were thinking of stoning him! Such was their rage and distress at being faced with disappointment.
So, what about David? Did he not have a family? His wives were taken away too. He was also as disappointed as the others. He would have had questions in his mind too. And he was also at the verge of being murdered. So how did he deal with it? The Bible says beautifully, “But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (verse 6). It tells us two things – that David was at his weakest and he found strength in the Lord; – the kind of relationship that David had with HIS God. He knew he could turn to God for help and God did help him! God advised David to pursue their enemy. God provided direction through a slave of the enemy who showed him the way. God gave them strength to fight and they won! The Bible says “David recovered ALL!” All that he lost – he got back. Not one was missing. All the men got their family back – their wives, their children, their possessions. Actually, the Amalekites were raiding other towns too, so David would have got more than what was lost! He could share his plunder with all his friends.
Even though they were disappointed initially, in the end, they had not lost anything. They got back everything and even more! So even now if you are in the midst of a disappointing situation, don’t lose heart! This might not be the end of it all! There is time still. Strengthen yourself in the Lord and wait for him to open doors – which no man can close! If you have lost something, remember God’s promises. He is capable of helping you recover it ALL. There is hope still! Our God is a good God and a faithful God. He is able to turn bad things into good for us.
Thoughts: Hannah's Blog 
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