Recovering from Disappointment

Are you disappointed with Christians? Maybe God is disappointed too, but He still loves them, and He loves you too.

You can find God's love if you seek God yourself, no matter what other Christians or non-Christians do. Without God, there is no hope in all eternity. If you take God seriously, you will find Him.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Mt 7:7–8 NIV

Do you often think about bitter experiences or how people have hurt you? Sadly that is all too common. But too many such thoughts can poison your soul. You can deliberately reflect on beautiful memories. It works like an antidote.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Php 4:8 NIV

Once I was in a church service. I was thinking about my many disappointments in the church and in other churches. I thought about how I had experienced shipwreck again and again. I opened my heart to God and I received a whole new insight from God.

I was shipwrecked several times, but God gave me the treasure. In my spirit I saw an image of a treasure chest on the seabed.

Despite my many mistakes, despite mistakes of others and sometimes even bullying from church leaders, despite all this I had experienced a lot of grace and learnt truth.

Despite my failures and traumatic experiences, God's saving love was always at work in my life.

“I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden wealth of secret places, So that you may know that it is I, The LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name. Is 45:3 NASB95

God wants to help you, but if you also need human help, a good therapist can sometimes help.

Are you in the Middle of a Miracle?

 The disciples were disappointed, paralysed with confusion and fear.
 
When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, he was greeted with jubilation as the Messiah. Everyone expected the Son of David to fulfil the prophecies.

Jesus was to establish a new kingdom in Israel and cast out the Romans.
Instead, Jesus was arrested as a criminal and executed on the cross.

Not only had they lost their champion.
When Jesus was arrested, they had fled like cowards.
They had lost their support and were ashamed that they themselves had failed.

But it was even worse. They were terrified. Would the religious leaders arrest and kill them too?

They were also probably sleepless and exhausted.

How long did the disciples tremble in this fearful despair?

But they did not realise that they were in the midst of a miracle.

When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.

She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping.
When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. Mk 16:9–11 NIV

Are you disappointed? Have others let you down? Have you failed yourself?

Jesus wants to come to you, but sometimes he waits.

Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. Mk 16:14 NIV

Despite everything, God has good plans for you. He loves you.

I prayed for my parents for years. Finally, they both came to faith on their deathbeds.

Are you stressed with the wait? Please never give up.

The desperate apostles were in the midst of an amazing miracle. Are you too? Why not?

Trusting God on Grey Days

 Dear God, I feel grey and deflated. The sky is grey, but where is the rain?
It's warm, but not nice and warm.

What can I do when everything around me and inside me is grey? Never forget that God's love envelops me.

If you know Jesus as your Saviour, God's Spirit lives in you 24 hours a day.
You carry heaven within you.

Are you threatened by evil people?

I've been thinking about it since yesterday. I feel anger and no love, but I must love my enemies.
I pray for my enemy to meet Jesus before he dies.

I pray without tender feelings, but I pray anyway.

To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me. Ps 25:1–2 NKJV

Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance. Ps 42:5 NKJV

Your Time Will Come

Have you been a believer for a long time? Do you read the wonderful promises of fruitfulness in the Bible? Are you fulfilled and satisfied, or is your Christian life just a religious routine?

Maybe you have already broken out of the religious routine, but you can't see any fruit. You love God and you have a close friendship with Jesus.

You want to win disciples for Jesus. You want to lay hands on the sick and see miraculous healings. Maybe you love Jesus, but you haven't received a miracle healing yet, even though you desperately need healing.

You love God and your trust in God is real and strong, but your hoped-for miracles are not appearing. And you need these miracles because you are disabled by illness, because your relatives are not yet believers, because you must wrestle with financial problems.

In the Gospel of Luke, we find an elderly woman who served God with a faithful heart for decades. She had prayed for children since her marriage, but she never had a single baby. Yet she never became bitter.

Had God abandoned her? Not at all. God had a marvellous plan. She was to experience a miracle, but without the long years of disappointment, God could not bring about this miracle.

Her husband Zechariah was a priest serving in the temple when an angel of the Lord appeared and shared an amazing message.

But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. Lk 1:13 NIV

Elizabeth was to be the mother of John the Baptist, the great prophet who would announce the coming of God's Son.

Everywhere in this chaotic world there are faithful disciples of the Lord who are waiting for the second coming of Jesus. Some are well-known prophets, good pastors, or well-known evangelists, but there are also many unknown saints who are frustrated because their prayers seem to be unanswered.

Are you one of them? Take courage. God has not forgotten you. God has prepared a spiritual army that He will release in the great end-time revival. Hold on to your hope. Your time is coming.

I prayed for years and God healed my depression.
I prayed for years and God saved my parents on their deathbed.
I prayed for years and .... I am not disappointed.

“Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labour; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD. Is 54:1 NIV

God has Better Plans

 Are you discouraged? Disappointed? Frightened?
Are you completely dejected?

Before the Last Supper, the apostles were disappointed and deeply shaken.

But how was that possible? They were Jesus' closest friends. They believed he was the Son of God, their Saviour and Redeemer. He was with them in the flesh. And they were dismayed?

A few days ago, Jesus had arrived in Jerusalem. The crowds had recognised him as the Messiah with jubilation.

The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” Mt 21:9 NIV

The Jews, and probably also the apostles, expected that Jesus as the Messiah would then establish the kingdom of God in Jerusalem, that Jesus would rule the world.

But Jesus did not do this. Everyone was disappointed. The religious leaders were now able to manipulate the disappointed Jews.

Instead of the expected triumph, the disciples were staring disaster in the face.

What did Jesus say?

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. Jn 14:1 NIV

You expected a great revival, prayed for it for years, heard wonderful prophecies.

Nevertheless, the corona catastrophe came. Then came the war in Ukraine, and another war in the Middle East.

Where is God? You no longer understand anything.

What does Jesus say now?

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. Jn 14:1 NIV

You were expecting something wonderful from God. You have waited a long time for it and now you are shaken.

My father was 70 years old. He had smoked 40 cigarettes a day for many years and his lungs were almost destroyed. I had prayed for him for years but there was no sign of faith. But he was plagued by emphysema. That's a death sentence.

Then I started praying in a completely different way. ‘Please let my father live until he comes to faith.’

He made his peace with God at the age of 88. He was very weak but there was no sign of emphysema.

Finally he turned 91, he was nearly blind and life had become a burden to him.

Then I read in the Bible:

With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” Ps 91:16 NIV

I thanked and praised God. I then prayed boldly.

‘Dear God, you have answered my prayer. But now life is a torment for my father. How would it be if my father could pass away peacefully exactly 16 days after his 91st birthday?

Exactly 16 days later, Jesus took my father to heaven without pain.

“In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.

“If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. Jn 14:2–3 NASB95

God has good plans for us, including you.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. Jn 14:1 NIV

Never Give up Believing

 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. Ps 91:7 NIV

Why do so many Christians pray for healing, protection or care but do not receive?

I have experienced miracles time and time again, but I don't want to be the kind of person who looks down on others because they haven't experienced a miracle.

We often don’t know why someone has not been healed, and we should not judge.

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. Mt 7:1 NIV

When I was healed from a terrible nervous breakdown more than 40 years ago, I often felt fear. I had many panic attacks. I often doubted and needed strong encouragement from Christians with stronger faith.

I also saw other Christians who were mentally ill and were not healed.

I needed strong medication, and for me medication and prayer were both valid and important.

But I kept praying for healing, and strove to trust God and expect healing.

Never give up! Healing doesn't often come immediately. Don't be discouraged by setbacks.

Don't let yourself think or talk for a minute about the disappointments of other sick people.

It's all about God's love and healing power for you, for yourself.

Do you believe that God forgives your sins? Some believe that, but are not sure if God wants to heal them.

He forgives all your iniquity; he heals all your diseases. Ps 103:3 CSB

The same God who promises forgiveness of sins has also promised to heal all your diseases in the same Bible verse.

No matter who is not healed, no matter what other Christians believe, no matter how many times you yourself have been disappointed, just hold onto God's love and God's promises for yourself.

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. Ps 91:7 NIV

So be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Dt 5:32 NIV

Pay no attention to other Christians who remain sick. Do not look to the right or to the left.

Jesus, our Compassionate Friend

 I know some Christian women who regularly visit brothels, not to preach, but to offer friendship and help to the prostitutes. They have rescued some from human trafficking and others have come to faith in Jesus.

Some Christians disapprove of visiting sinful places, but Jesus himself mixed with the outcasts of society

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’;

the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” Mt 11:18–19 NRSV

Some Christians look at the lives of unbelievers, and focus on their sins. Jesus wanted to save sinners from their sins, but he did not just look upon them as sinners, but as people who were struggling with the challenges and disappointments of life.

Jesus really was a friend to sinners. What does true friendship mean? A true friend empathises and tries to understand how you feel.

When Jesus saw severely sick people, he was moved with compassion and healed them.

But he did not only feel compassion for physical suffering, but also the mental and emotional suffering of people living in darkness.

Life is full of struggles and disappointments, for Christians as well as unbelievers. If you put your trust in Jesus, you have eternal life, but that does not make you immune to grief and heartache.

Jesus himself knew what sorrow and grief meant.

He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.

Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. Is 53:3–4 NRSV

This translation correctly shows how Jesus, as our healer, bore our physical pains and sicknesses on the cross.

Some other translations emphasise the mental grief and sorrow, that Jesus endured, and how he identified himself with our emotional struggles.

Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. Is 53:4 NKJV

God looks at your sins, and he wants to forgive you, but he does not just look upon you as a judge, but as one who loves you and identifies with your emotional struggles.

After Jesus returned to heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to be our comforter. The Holy Spirit in NT Greek is the PARAKLETOS. One who is called alongside.

God is closer than breathing. He feels your heartaches, and he wants to touch you with his compassionate love.

God has Better Plans

Are you discouraged? Disappointed? Anxious?
Are you really down?

Before the Last Supper, the apostles were disappointed and deeply shaken.

But how was that possible? They were Jesus' closest friends. They believed he was the Son of God, their Saviour and Redeemer. He was with them in the flesh. And they were dismayed?

A few days earlier, Jesus had arrived in Jerusalem. The crowds had acknowledged him as the Messiah with great excitement.

The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!” Matthew 21:9 NIV84

The Jews, and also the apostles, expected that Jesus as Messiah would then establish the Kingdom of God, that Jesus would rule the world as King in Jerusalem.

But Jesus did not. Everyone was disappointed. The religious leaders could now manipulate the disappointed Jews.

Instead of the expected triumph, the disciples stared disaster in the face.

What did Jesus say to this?

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. John 14:1 NIV84

You have expected a great revival, prayed for it for years, heard wonderful prophecies.

Yet the Corona disaster came. Where is God? You no longer understand anything.

What is Jesus saying now?

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. John 14:1 NIV84

You were expecting something wonderful from God. You have waited a long time for it, and now you are shaken.

My father was 70 years old. He had been smoking 40 cigarettes a day for many years and his lungs were black inside. I had prayed for him for years but there was no sign of faith. 

He was tormented by emphysema. That was a death sentence.

Then I started praying a new prayer. "Please let my father live until he comes to faith."

At the age of 88, he converted. He was very weak, but there was no sign of emphysema.

Finally he turned 91. He was half blind and life had become a burden to him.

Then I read in the Bible:

With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.” Psalm 91:16 NKJV

I gave thanks and praise to God. And then I prayed a very bold prayer.

"Dear God, you have heard my prayer, but my father is really suffering. How would it be if my father goes to heaven exactly 16 days after his 91st birthday?

Exactly 16 days later, Jesus took my father to heaven with no pain.

In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:2–3 NKJV

God has good plans for us, and that includes you.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. John 14:1 NIV84