When You Battle Feelings of Disappointment.

Estimated reading time: 13 minutes

Have you ever believed God for something only for you to end up experiencing disappointment? Have there been moments when what you were waiting on never came forth.? Maybe you trusted God for healing but it has not manifested. Or maybe you waited on God concerning a specific opportunity only for it to go down the drain. And yes you might say it was not God’s will for you. And that might be the case. But what about when you know that it’s God’s will for you and it still failed? How do you go on trusting when after God promised you something, you see it go down the drain? 

We can all agree that at one point in life we have all experienced situations where we were disappointed even after going for something God wanted us to. And this then brings up the question, why did it fail to happen yet God is not a liar and He never disappoints? 

Does God disappoint?

We know the Bible clearly tells us that God will never disappoint those who put their trust in Him. 

First Name

Email address:

I have read and agree to the terms & conditions

Leave this field empty if you’re human:

Scripture reassures us, “No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever regret it.” It’s exactly the same no matter what a person’s religious background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help. “Everyone who calls, ‘Help, God!’ gets help.” Romans 10:11‭-‬13 MSG

We also know that the Bible is The Truth, and in God, there is no shadow of shifting. So then how do you reconcile the truth that God is not a liar, and He does not disappoint when you are in the midst of your disappointments? How do you learn to trust God again after you have experienced disappointment and you feel like He has let you down after doing the thing He asked you to? 

Before we can answer this question, it is important to understand one thing: God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not ours. Because God’s thoughts are higher than ours, He will often do things that will contradict what we know and even cause us to despair. Here are some of the things that can cause you to experience disappointment. 

Ways we can experience disappointment

1. We obviously know that God heals, yet we have seen people not get healed. In fact, we have seen preachers who struggle with sickness till death, yet they were living for God. This can cause disappointment in you because you wonder if He couldn’t do it for them. Why would He do it for you? it can also cause you to question His goodness too. 
2.  Or maybe you did exactly what the Bible said about giving and tithing but you are yet to see the manifestation of your promise stated in Malachi 3. God said that He will protect your yield, yet that’s not the case for you even after tithing. 
3.  Sometimes it could be that you fasted, but you did not experience the breakthrough you wanted. This can be especially hard if the promise is clearly stated in the Bible. After all, Jesus said that there is deliverance that comes only after fasting and prayer. 

When you experience disappointment for a long time especially when you feel like it’s God who has disappointed you, it is easy to become cynical and even stop believing His promises. And it’s interesting that you might still go on praying and doing all the Christian things you are required to do but your heart is so far from God. Let me ask you this, has your heart been wounded for so long because of hope deferred? Have you waited on God for so long but He has yet to come through for you? If this is you, then I encourage you to read on. 

What to do when you battle disappointment.

Before we can continue let me give you some encouragement

A love letter to you from God ( a compilation of scriptures)

My child, 

I know you are disappointed. I know you have waited on me to come through for you for so long and it looks like I am far from you. But I want you to know that I am not. I hear your every prayer. And know even your deepest pain and desires. I am God, this means I know all and I see all. I have not forgotten you, although the current situation says so. You have been crying out to me. And today I want to tell you that I am working everything out for your good.

I told Moses to go and deliver the Israelites, but things initially got worse. In fact, it got so bad that the Israelites lost hope and decided to be okay with living as slaves. But it was when things got so bad that My power was experienced. Don’t you see? Everything will come together. I give the promises and I fulfill them. I have never failed and I never will. My word does not go back to Me void until it has completed that which Is sent it out to do. I do not say things just for the sake of saying them.

What I have spoken will come to pass. The opportunity might have slipped through your fingers now, but watch how I turn it around and bring it back. Who would have thought that the Israelites would leave Egypt and be heavily compensated at that? Do not allow the enemy to tell you that I do not listen or that I have let you down. Because I have not, there are things I am working out for your good. And when I am done, you will be glad that it took time.

I am preparing you for what I promised you and I am preparing what I promised you for you. Read Revelation 12. I took the child from the woman after she gave birth. Then I sent her to the wilderness to recuperate. I am doing the same for you. What you think is lost, I am tending to it as you heal. Allow me to do the work that needs to be done inside you.

I am a Loving Father who cannot give you something that will destroy you. So, although I want to lavish you with all these things, I want you to first heal and allow me to make you whole. And then you can have the very thing back. I can never withhold any good thing from you. After all, every good and perfect gift comes from Me. Hold on, My dear child. 

Allow the peace that surpasses all understanding to wash over you. Let me shower you with My love. That very thing I will bring it back to you and I will restore even the lost years. I am your Redeemer. Let me build your patience capital right now! Hold on! It will all come together. 

I hope this word blesses you. 

Now that you have this word, let’s look at the things you can do when you feel like God has disappointed you. 

What to do when you feel like God has disappointed you.

Be honest.

David in his Psalms gives us the right posture when we think that God has disappointed us. He shows us that we should honestly take our emotions to God. In Psalms 13, we see him tell God that He has ignored him. He is disappointed that even after trusting God, God has let him down. 

Long enough, God— you’ve ignored me long enough. I’ve looked at the back of your head long enough. Long enough I’ve carried this ton of trouble, lived with a stomach full of pain. Long enough my arrogant enemies have looked down their noses at me. Take a good look at me, God, my God; I want to look life in the eye, So no enemy can get the best of me or laugh when I fall on my face. Psalm 13:1‭-‬4 MSG

David was not afraid to tell God what was on his heart and neither should you. Tell God how He has disappointed you. Be honest and vulnerable with Him. He is not fickle. He can take it. Just pour your heart out. 

Jesus also felt the same at the cross and He even cried out ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?’ If Jesus felt abandoned by God, why do you think you wouldn’t too? 

Honesty is the best policy. So don’t be afraid to tell God what you feel in your heart. He is more than ready to listen.

Read also: How to practically deal with disappointment as a Christian millennial.

Praise

David despite all that pain realized that what he needed to do was to praise. 

I’ve thrown myself headlong into your arms— I’m celebrating your rescue. I’m singing at the top of my lungs, I’m so full of answered prayers. Psalm 13:5‭-‬6 MSG

David praised God. He knew for him to get out of that Funk; he had to praise God. Praise and worship renew you and help you to shift your focus from your disappointment. 

How then can you worship in the midst of your disappointment?

Focus on who God is.

In your disappointment, remind yourself who God is. He is the promise keeper; He is the Healer and comforter and He is the Redeemer. Sing songs that embody that. Read Psalms that talk about that. Every time you focus on God, your disappointment becomes less and less. You don’t have to stay in that state forever. Just focus on God and watch him heal the areas in your life where you have experienced disappointment.

Ignite your faith.

Faith is what will help you hold on when everything around you is shaking. Faith is what will give you the strength to hold on to God amidst the disappointments and let down. And faith will be ignited by reading the Bible. Find scriptures of people who God redeemed. David is one. Books like 2 Samuel will show you how David experienced redemption. The story of Joseph will give you hope that what God has spoken will come to pass despite the odds.

Can you imagine the doubt that Joseph experienced when he was in prison, wondering if God was ever going to come through for him? It’s easy to see that now because we know the ending.

But Joseph could not see it as he was going through it. Joseph’s brothers sold him to Egypt after God showed him the dream that his brothers and father would bow to him. He must have wondered how it was going to happen after his brothers sold him to slavery. He did not even know that he would ever see his people again. Imagine the disappointment he must have felt knowing very well that God had given him the promise. In spite all this, He held on to the promise because he knew the one who promised was faithful and he would bring it to pass.

Reading such a scripture will help you realize that God in His Sovereignty knows how He will work it all out. It is not for you to know the how but to trust in Him. God knows how He will bring it all to pass. Just be patient.

Have Patience capital amidst your disappointment.

The disappointment stems from the frustration that it has not yet manifested. And it is in this moment that your faith needs to be cultivated. Patience is a virtue and one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Disappointment will scream at you to stop but God wants you to keep going and trust that in His timing it will work out. It is in your perseverance that you will experience healing and be made whole.

The truth remains that God is not a man that He should lie. And the fact that the opportunity has slipped away from you or things did not turn out as He promised should not worry you. This is because as long as He said it, HE will do it. It might not be as you expect but He will do it. As long as things have yet to work in your favor it means that God is not done yet. He has to work everything out in your favor. It has to work out for your good.

Keep doing what you can.

Don’t stop doing good or doing what God asked you. Still keep at it and don’t give up because God will work it all out. 

Ask God for a Revelation of your current season.

What does God want you to learn through the seeming disappointment and the pain you are experiencing? What lessons are there for you to glean from? This Revelation will give you the motivation you need to go on. Also ask God to help you see things from His eye. Ask Him to open your spiritual senses. He wants to show you what He is doing. 

“This is God’s Message, the God who made the earth, made it livable and lasting, known everywhere as God: ‘Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.’ Jeremiah 33:2‭-‬3 MSG

Conclusion

When Jesus died, His disciples thought that it was over. It must have been hard for them, considering that they had given up everything for Him. And now the person they were relying on was dead. Can you imagine the disappointment? Here they thought that Jesus would deliver them from Roman oppression, but now He was dead. Yet, God was not done. 3 days later He rose from the dead and He established His reign. 

Disappointment is inevitable as long as you are living here on earth. But it is when you take your disappointment to God that you are healed. The disciples, although disappointed, still trusted Jesus and it was in those moments that they received their healing. Yes, I know you don’t know what to do or how you will go on.

• THIS TIME, IT WILL BE DIFFERENT!
• Want To Give Up On God? Try Him One More Time!
• HOW TO OVERCOME FEAR
• CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN: WHEN THINGS DON’T GO AS PLANNED.
• 5 Lies Christians Battle As They Wait On God.

But today I want to encourage you to keep trusting God and allow Him to heal you. It is in your deepest disappointments that God wants to bring the most healing and redemption. He redeems. Just look at Ruth and Naomi. When their husbands died, it seemed like there was no way that things would ever work out in their favor. But God in His ways redeemed them and they recovered everything they lost. It might seem like there is nothing else left, but God always has one move left, even when you feel cornered. Watch Him do what only He can and trust that He will be with you through it all. 

One thing you should know and always remember is that God will most definitely work things out for your good. You might feel like He has let you down. But He is only retracing your steps to get you the best outcome possible for you. He sees you, hears you, and loves you. God has not forgotten you!