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May 22, 2019 - October 31, 2021
We cannot control our outcomes. We cannot formulate how the promises of God will actually take shape. And we will never be able to demand any of the healing from all the hurt to hurry up.
Though we can’t predict or control or demand the outcome of our circumstances, we can know with great certainty we will be okay. Better than okay. Better than normal. We will be victorious because Jesus is victorious (1 Corinthians 15:57). And victorious people were never meant to settle for normal.
But pretending away reality never makes things better. It just causes you to implode on the inside while smiling on the outside.
Sometimes to get your life back, you have to face the death of what you thought your life would look like.
Sometimes to get your life back, you have to face the death of what you thought your life would look like.
But disappointment isn’t proof that God is
withholding good things from us. Sometimes it’s His way of leading us Home.
Together we are going to find a real help and a true hope and a God who will hold us safe through it all.
But we aren’t talking about it.
We don’t even feel permission to do so or we
just don’t know how to process our di...
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dangerous aspect to staying quiet and pretending we don’t get exhausted by our disappointments.
It’s his subtle seduction to get us alone with our thoughts so he can slip in whispers that will develop our disappointments into destructive choices. If the enemy can isolate us, he can influence us.
He wants to crush us.
Remember, this is a love story. And we will never appreciate or even desire the hope of our True Love if lesser loves don’t disappoint.
pushes us to long for God Himself—and
and for the place where we will finally walk in the garden
with Him ...
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Where we will finally have peace and security and eyes that no longer leak tears . . . and heart...
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Notice all the feeling words used to describe the world we currently
inhabit: mourning, crying, and pain.
This constant threat to our deep feelings ushers in depression, anxiety, callousness, and, quite honestly, a skepticism about the goodness of God.
My feelings and my faith will almost certainly come into conflict with each other.
To wrestle well means acknowledging my feelings
but moving forward, letting my faith lead the way.
There will be no gap between our expectations and experiences.
We won’t be hurt. We won’t live hurt. We won’t be disappointed, and we won’t live disappointed. Not in people. Not in ourselves. Not in God. Our feelings and faith will nod in agreement. We will return to a purity of emotion where we can experience the best of our hearts working in tandem with the absolutes of truth.
There will be no contrary notions about why God allows things to happen.
We won’t need to wrestle well, because we will be well. Whole. Complete. Assured. Secure. Certain. Victorious. And brought full circle in our understanding of truth.
No matter how
well I think I know the people in my life, I can’t control them. No matter how well I follow the rules, do what’s right, and seek to obey God with my whole heart, I can’t control my life. I can’t control God.
When His timing seems questionable, His lack
of intervention seems hurtful, and His promises seem doubtful, I get afraid. I get confused. And left alone with those feelings, I can’t help but feel disappointed that God isn’t doing what I assume a good God should do.
assume God would have intervened and prevented this rejection from happening in the first place. I want to assume that His promise to never leave me or forsake me means that He’s operating like a supernatural shield around me, preventing horrific things from happening to me and those I love.
I want to assume that my definition of best should be God’s definition of best.
And that my definition of good should be God’s de...
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I want to write the story of my life according to all my assumptions.
Therefore, it’s impossible to escape the truth that I don’t want to relinquish control to God. I want to take control from God.
And then I make the most dangerous assumption of al...
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do all of this better...
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“Take control of your own life. Stop following God’s rules.
When you’re in control you’ll be able to get everything
you’ve ever felt denie...
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Disappointment happens every time I come face-to-face with my absolute inability to control people, circumstances, and timing.
“You are free.” God gave him a message of freedom with one restriction for his protection.
She got alone with her own thoughts and assumptions. And it led her to doubt God. And take control to get what she wanted. What she thought was best.
when I don’t like God’s plan: surely I could do this better than God.
But here’s the good news: even when we follow in Eve’s footsteps, when we try to take control and make assumptions and misunderstand God on every level, He still has a plan. A good plan.
A plan to make something from dust.
It isn’t to keep us from getting shattered. It’s to keep our souls connected, so deeply connected to Himself.
