Turn Disappointment to Thanksgiving

Your setback may actually be a wonderful new appointment or plan for your life, namely, God's plan.

By Norman Vincent Peale

Disappointment is a prevailing and common adversary of the human spirit and may strike you almost anytime. Therefore one should learn to deal with it. Four verses can be of great help in so doing. “Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward” (Hebrews 10:35). When disappointment strikes, simply hold tight to your confidence. Do not petulantly toss it away. Instead, affirm. I am confident. I believe.

It will require some mental and spiritual effort to maintain confidence. Your tendency may be, in desperation, to toss it. So focus your mind by an act of will on confidence. The promise of the text is that such practice will bring great reward. “Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not all his benefit” (Psalm 103:2).

The practice of thanksgiving is a great viewpoint changer. Add up all the benefits you possess. This wise verse tells you to start thanking the Lord for all the benefits He has given you, instead of mentally, and perhaps vocally, harping on what you glumly believe has been denied you... Be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never fail you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). The word contentment derives from two Latin words, con and tenere, meaning to hold together.

When you have faith in God, your mind will hold together so efficiently that you can always recover from a disappointment. Thus you can be content and, out of contentment, great things can happen. “We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

When disappointed, try loving God all the more. Carefully analyze yourself to make certain you are thinking and living in harmony with His spiritual purpose. It could be that you are off the spiritual beam. Instead of dwelling upon the word disappointment, think of it as “Hisappointment.”

What you regard as a disappointment may actually be a wonderful new appointment or plan for your life, namely, His plan. Always take a positive view toward disappointment. It could be that through disappointment you are being shown another way or being led toward something different. If you have tried sincerely and prayerfully, and things have not gone well, then look upon disappointment as an opportunity to ask whether you should move under God’s guidance in another direction.

This article is excerpted from Navigate: How the Bible Can Help You in Every Aspect of Your Life..

Starting Over

The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. - James 1:9
 

Do you find yourself in humble circumstances? If so, James tells us that we are to take pride in this "high" position. These two things would seem to be an oxymoron. Most of us would not consider humble circumstances a high position. Successful business tells us that being on top means being wealthy, attaining favor and status, or having power to influence. However, Jesus influenced not from power, but from weakness. 

J.C. Penney is a name synonymous with department store. He first launched his chain of "The Golden Rule" stores in 1907. In 1910 his first wife died. Three years later, he incorporated as the J.C. Penney company. In 1923 his second wife died giving birth to his son. In 1929 the stock market crashed and he lost $40 million. 

By 1932, he had to sell out to satisfy...creditors. This left [Penney] virtually broke. ...Crushed in spirit from his loss and his health suddenly failing, Penney wound up in a Battle Creek, Michigan sanitarium. One morning he heard the distant singing of employees who gathered to start the day with God: Be not dismayed, whate'er betide, God will take care of you.... Penney followed the music to its source and slipped into a back row. He left a short time later a changed man, his health and spirit renewed, and ready to start the long climb back at age fifty-six. 

By 1951 there was a J.C. Penney store in every state, and for the first time sales surpassed $1 billion a year. [John Woodbridge, ed., More Than Conquerors (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1992), 340-343.] 

The success of J.C. Penney can be traced to God's mercy in his life to bring him out of his humble circumstance. Do you find yourself in a humble circumstance? God is the only one who can help you see your humble circumstance from His viewpoint-a high position. It is a high position because of what God is going to teach you in this place. He does not intend you to stay there; it is merely a stopping place to learn some important things you would not learn otherwise. Press into God and trust Him for the outcome to your circumstances.

www.TodayGodIsFirst.com

Shadows

You can have no fear when shadows cross your pathway.

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me …” Psalm 23:4

This verse is often read as comfort in the presence of physical death. Yet whenever the shadow of loss of any kind crosses our pathway our natural inclination is to respond in fear.

Loss comes in many forms: 

the death of a dream; the loss of health; finances; a job; the loss of a friendship; a home; a marriage.

The threat of loss often casts its fearful shadow unexpectedly. Global and national situations can cast shadows of potential loss. A looming medical test; unsettled talk at work; the tense edge in a relationship can all throw shadows across our hearts.

This beautiful Psalm acknowledges that we do walk through valleys that cast the shadow of death along our way … and yet we do not need to fear those shadows. Even in the midst of them we are reminded, “I will fear no evil, for You are with me”.

We never need to fear a loss of hope when shadows come. Shadows are part of life as our days lengthen and change. Yet the shadows need not define us nor paralyze us with fear. They need not make us retreat nor cower. For our God walks with us through the valley where the shadows cast a distorted image.

We need not fear. 

 He comforts us as we go. He prepares a feast for us even in the midst of hostile territory. He anoints us with His joy and our cup can overflow with the knowledge of His goodness and mercies following us as we courageously walk on. Our good Shepherd leads us and we can trust Him fully, even in the shadows.

Thank you LORD GOD that You are my Good Shepherd and that You lead me today. If a shadow of loss threatens to darken my way today may I lean  hard on You, allowing Your comfort to fill me, Your joy to bubble up in me and Your peace to replace my fear. May I see the goodness and the mercy that are following me as I confidently follow You along the pathway of life. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

by Gail Rodgers