We are nearing the end of our ‘I’m Disappointed’ series. Let’s look at what Moses can teach us about changing our perspective in times of disappointment.
STEP 1: Don’t allow your disappointment to contain you
The Israelites were well known for their complaining. They complained in slavery, they complained in the wilderness, they complained about the lack of food, they complained about the food God provided for the every day.
This is why God took them into the wilderness – to strip them back, to get them to work at stripping off the chains that confined them.
When we are living in disappointment we may not realise it, but it is no longer the external circumstances that are causing us to feel enslaved but what is IN US, that stops us living freely.
STEP 2: Cry out to God
Exodus 15:23
3 days after the parting of the Red Sea: supplies were low, the Israelites were slogging through the wilderness, they were hungry and thirsty. Then they spotted water! Yes! A cool drink! But the water was bitter. They were disappointed again.
When we experience disappointment, bitter water can become a bitter heart.
Disappointment leads to frustration and frustration leads to anger and anger to bitterness and bitterness is what mutes us/contains us/ stops us living abundantly.
God just wanted them to turn to Him.
Moses turned to God in his disappointment.
When you face disappointment, try not to allow bitterness to envelop you but like Moses cry out to God in the midst of your struggle.
It is all about a change of perspective. Moses understood the wilderness, he embraced disappointment. He trusts God explicitly, saying ‘I may not understand, God, but I trust in you’.
What we need most in our disappointment is not a change of circumstances but a change of heart and a change of perspective.
Reflect:
If you think back to the first few days of this series, I asked whether we should simply lower our expectations in order to avoid disappointment. (Maybe some England football fans have learned to do just that!) Over the course of this series, I feel I am coming to the conclusion that high expectations are essential, especially when it comes to trusting God! But underpinning every hope and dream should be GRATITUDE. Whether our expectations are met or not, an antidote to disappointment is thankfulness for what we do have. More about this next time!