Theology

The Value of Disappointment

Author Amy K. Hall Published on 04/14/2017

Zach Barnhart’s “God Loves Us Enough to Disappoint Us” is a good meditation for Good Friday. The disciples of Jesus also suffered great disappointment the day Jesus, the center of all their hopes, died on the cross, but we know how that turned out in the end.

I have been disappointed by how my job search in ministry has gone thus far. And that disappointment is perhaps one of God’s greatest blessings to me in this entire process.

God loves us enough to disappoint us. What I mean is, God often wants to give us something greater than we can see. He often wants to teach us through our trials, instead of making our life trial-free. He wants to bring us to the end of ourselves, so that we will stop trying to earn our righteousness. He wants to undo us, that He might bind us together....

What if God, in my season of waiting, is trying to show me that I am not powerful enough to do this on my own? What if He is inviting me to a deeper trust in Him, a better understanding of patience, and a real commitment to a long obedience in the same direction? What if this season drives me into the spiritual disciplines with greater hope to know and listen to God?

If you are living with disappointment today, take heart! God has promised He is working all things together to make you like Christ (Rom. 8:28–29). And if you are conformed to His death now in your disappointment, you will also be conformed to His resurrected life in the end (Phil. 3:8–11). For now, let your losses do their good work of moving you to seek the God “who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist” (Rom. 4:17).

(HT: Tim Challies)