How to Deal with a Season of Disappointment 101

In addition to showcasing some of my finds, I cannot fight the urge to soapbox, vent, or aggressively skip down rabbit trails. To filter these pensive posts out (or in!), just select either “inventory” or “loose change” from the Categories drop-down menu.

And, no, I am not buying time because I ran out of inventory. I actually went on one of those crazy long yard sales last weekend and got some neat-o treasures. So to the three people that read this blog, hold tight!

Wait?! You’re still here?!

OK, you get the Kleenex, and I’ll make some tea.

This might be a surprise, but I really don’t like the feeling of disappointment. I sometimes walk naively into situations that have high-disappointment probability. This definitely happens when I psyche myself up for a lot of ambitious activities and then become a puddle of overwhelmed emotional mess when everything doesn’t turn out like the end of a Curious George episode. (George, your havoc fixed everyone’s problems! Please continue enjoying unlimited and unsupervised access to our city!)

So, I decided to scale back and only focus on a few things to tackle, but I still felt bogged down in a season of disappointment that caused me to question my capabilities in motherhood, in my marriage, in ministry, and through the blog & selling.

Why is everything so hard? God, a little triumph could have definitely propelled me through the next week and kept me going!

Didn’t that last sentence speak loudly? Do you do that? You say something, and even before you finish, you know where you need to take out your red editing pen because you got slammed with the monster truck of conviction.

Well, Colossians 3:17 seems to be an easy go-to:
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

(Colossians 3:23 fits along these lines too.)

No matter the mundane/repetition/inconvenience of the “whatever” and “everything,” it has purpose when our hearts seek Him. BUT in the hypothetical cafeteria of life, what happens when I am the janitor trying to do my job for His glory, but everyday seems to be Sloppy Joe Day (eeeww!) with ravenous Lord of the Flies children engulfing their semi-food while I keep spilling cleaning chemicals and tripping over my mop?

This scary (or hilarious) lunchtime scene reminds me that the measure of success and failure is so relative meaning success and failure cannot be defined in strict terms for everyone in every situation. This is especially true in regard to how success and failure are viewed in this world compared to how God keeps trying to remind me how he views it:

I feel like you have to absorb 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 before relishing in Colossians 3:17. According to my ESV Study Bible notes for the former verse, God is using Paul’s weakness as THE platform (say what?!) for demonstrating the power of Christ. His weakness is not the sideshow while his polished main event is what God chooses to use to advance His kingdom. Because Jesus’ “power is made perfect in weakness,” Paul gladly welcomes his shortcomings, front and center, “so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” It sounds weird to our human ears to welcome “weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities” because in this, “I am strong.”

I am always astonished that in between coming to faith and our time to leave this Earth, God not only uses us for His great plan but uses what is seen to stunt growth, cause fear, and induce chaos in our fallen world in order to display His power.

So back to Colossians 3:17, knowing our “whatever” and “everything” will not only be imperfect but includes the not so pretty, we can have faith there is purpose behind all of it. Our flaws serve as the perfect medium for God. When we believe in this, our hearts are refined to seek more of this wonder of our God.

So disappointment doesn’t have to be my norm when life doesn’t fit my mold. I can thank God not only through the good and bad but also thank Him for filling up the deep crevices of inadequacy that my flaws drill deep into my heart especially during less than pleasant times.

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Thank you, God, for turning disappointment into hope.

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Random for You (Yeah, I do this for these kind of posts as well; I always have more to slip in.):

I recently read Lara Casey’s Make it Happen. I was thinking it might be a little soft and shallow and say something like, “just put God first and everything will be fine,” but I was pleasantly surprised. As she puts it, “failure is fertilizer” and “purpose over perfection.” The chapter “End the Extremes” was a pep talk I really needed.

Vanilla Bean is the best ice cream flavor to pair with another dessert like a cake or brownie, but it is way too boring alone.

I am not a fan of spiritual gifts personality tests. On the other hand, the ones that tell you what character you are most like from The Office are great!