Commitments

[image error]First Sunday of 2018

I normally don’t blog my notes from church, but the message from my church this past Sunday really touch me. Not saying all service messages escape me, but this one really was speaking to me and I honestly believe that this message was for me.  This past Sunday, my pastor preached about commitment.  Being a new year, many people have committed to making changes on their quest to become a better person. I have never been one to make new year resolutions only to forget them by February. I just always strive to be better and to do better than I had the year before.  The theme of Sunday’s message was simply ‘You have to learn how to deal with disappointments if you want to stay committed to something because there will be some disappointments and how you respond to disappointment will determine how successful you are!’

Here are my notes in its entirely….

Scriptures 2Kings 5:1     2Cor 4:8-10

2018 is the year of new beginning or a fresh start because the number 8 is symbolic of beginnings.  This year commit to finishing something. Don’t let the devil distract you from your commitment.  A commitment is a firm decision to do something, but to be committed you are going to have to learn how to deal with disappointments. Disappointments are when your expectations for something fail.  How we deal with disappointments will determine our success or our level of commitment.  The devil will use our desires to distract us from being committed.  

There are many disappointments that happen in our lives, but the top three disappointments are people, ourselves, and GOD.  

-Sometimes we are disappointed by people. People will let you down and disappoint you. We set ourselves up for disappointment when we give god-like status to people in our lives.  The person who upsets you the most, is the person you’ve given god-like status to, whether it is a spouse, parent, friend, sibling, cousin, or boss.

-Sometimes we are disappointed by ourselves. Sometimes we make promises to ourselves without a plan or accountability and when it fails, we want to blame everyone but ourselves, but sometimes we make promises that God didn’t ordain. Sometimes we want things to happen in our lives that God did not say was going to happen. Don’t make promises to yourself that God didn’t give you!

-God. Yes, we can be disappointed in God.  Sometimes we must forgive God because we tend to harbor ill feelings towards God when our prayers go unanswered or when horrible things happen in our lives that we do not understand. Harboring those feelings can keep you from fully surrendering yourself to God. We must learn to forgive others, forgive ourselves, and forgive God if we want to stay committed. Walking in unforgiveness is a hinderance to our lives and a ploy of the devil to keep you from the will of God.

The way we respond to disappointment will determine how our life will go.  How successful are you at handling disappointments?  There should be a difference in how a child of God handles disappointment and how people in the world handles disappointment.  Are you acting a fool as soon as things don’t go your way, or do you continue to push through and accept that some things are beyond your control?

The devil will shake up your life by whatever upsets you the most. The very thing that your peace lies in is what the devil will use to interrupt your life!

2Kings 5: tells the story of Naaman’s disappointment about his healing.  Naaman had his healing played out in his mind.  He thought A, B, C, and D were going to happen. I thought his money would be enough to obtain his healing and that he was important enough to be treated special, but when his healing didn’t happen the way he expected it to, he was disappointed and in his disappointment, he almost missed his healing.

Some of us are like Naaman. We try to tell God how we want to do something, how we want things to work out, and God is telling us and trying to show us that it does not work that way.  We must tear up our plans for our lives and ask God to show us or help us recognize our purpose and plan.  Many of us can’t get to that point because how we react to disappointment is holding us back.  There are seven ways that people tend to deal with disappointment.

1. Bitterness

2. Confusion

3. Distraught

4. Loss of interest in the Word

5. Withdrawal

6. Depression

7. Suicidal 

  ***When he got to number five, something in my spirit moved and I know he was talking to me.  This past year, I lost interest in writing and anyone that knows me knows that I am a writer. It is a passion and I truly believe that it is my purpose, one of them anyway. But because I got disappointment in my literary journey, I became withdrawn. I closed myself off from all my literary sisters and connections. I basically disappeared. I even became depressed about it. I cut off so many people in my life, many who had never done anything too me. I was just disappointed in myself mostly and basically just suffered in silenced. Not knowing that I was stopping my own blessings, because many times God uses other people in our lives to bless us. I couldn’t get my blessings because I was having a hard time dealing with disappointment.  We never know who we are until after the test is over! We never know who we are until we are under pressure! It is when we are under pressure that we must stay resilient in the fight to be committed. ***

-Resilient people do not expect a trouble-free journey.

-Resilient people avoid self-pity and woe is me parties.

-Resilient people don’t allow unanswered questions to stop them on their journey.

-Resilient people maintain social connections and do not cut off connections.

-Resilient people realizes that people and situations change, but God does not change. 

-Resilient people look at life in the right perspective and they engage life

2 Corinthians 4:8-10: Victory is on the backside of every disappointment, so we must not give up!

As we go through 2018, let’s remember to be committed. Being committed requires a plan and accountability. Get you a plan. Set goals, hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly that will help you stay committed.  Get you a partner or establish connections with people that will hold you accountability when you start to slack off of your commitments. Let start building each other up and walking into all that God has in store for us. As I say, 2018 is the year to be EXQUISITE,  so let’s walk into our new beginning. God has given us another chance to get things right, let’s not waste it.  The richest place in the world is the cemetery because so many people have died with their purpose and passion instead of sharing it with the world.  What are you committing to? How will you handle disappointment on your commitment journey? Will your response be the same as the world or as a child of God? Only you can answer these questions. It’s never too late to start your commitment journey!