Altar Call – Opelika-Auburn News

Walter Albritton

January 8, 2012

Disappointment can be the door to a new beginning

Disappointment comes to everyone. Life is not fair. Things do not work out the way we hoped they would. Dreams shatter. Failure happens.

Bob and Betty were madly in love. They got married, had three children and planned to live happily ever after. Along the way Bob neglected Betty. He became a slave to his work. Betty walked out one day. She was in love with another man. Bob sat crying in the ashes of disappointment.

Bill’s father was a preacher. Bill’s mother encouraged him to follow in his dad’s footsteps. Bill became a preacher but found peace in ministry. One day he realized his mother, not God, had called him to preach. Crushed and disappointed Bill quit the ministry and began teaching school.

Tom went off to college with high hopes. Six months later he was not on the Dean’s list; he had flunked out. Ashamed and disappointed he wiped his tears and got a job driving a milk truck. His dream of a college degree was gone with the wind. He was devastated and enveloped by an ugly cloud of regret.

Mary wanted to become an artist. She loved to draw and paint. Friends encouraged her to study art. But there was no money to go to school. She got married, had five children and buried her dream in the black pit of disappointment. Her dream shattered she clung to the slim hope that one of her kids might become an artist.

Pete felt no need to go to college. After high school he went to work at his dad’s company. He would work hard and take over the business one day. Nine years later his dad died suddenly. The new owner of the business had no need for Pete. He downsized the company and let Pete go. Without a job Pete struggled to find his way out of the misery of disappointment.

Charles and Linda were devoted to each other. Linda had a beautiful baby boy. They named him Frank and he became the center of their lives. When Frank was 17 he was killed in a car wreck. Charles began drinking heavily and soon left Linda for a younger woman. For years now Linda has lived like a recluse, her mind filled with anger and bitterness. Disappointment has enslaved her.

King David, the Bible tells us, dreamed of building a temple to honor God. He intended to do it one day but he stayed busy going to war. He loved to fight and was good at it. Then one day God informed David that he would not build a temple; instead his son Solomon would build it. God was not pleased with David’s love of wars. David’s disappointment was overwhelming.

But somehow David found a way to overcome his disappointment. He refused to quit. He refused to live the rest of his life nursing bitterness. Call it trust. Call it faith. Call it turning to God. Call it what you will – David found a way to move out of the paralyzing fog of disappointment and start over.

What helped David we call grace today. When the bottom falls out of life, when our dreams are shattered by pain and disappointment, we can turn to our Creator for grace. He has plenty of it, enough to go around so everyone can have some. He will give it graciously to all who ask for it. Disappointment is real but grace is more real.

The next time disappointment seizes you by the throat, tell it to go back to hell where it came from. Then avail yourself of the grace you need to make a new start. That way you can make disappointment the door to a new beginning. I know you can do it because I have done it more than once. And more than likely I will have to do it again. And, by the grace of God, I will.

You can do it too. Now get up and get started. Now. This minute. When you make a new start, you cease being a victim and become a victor! Disappointment makes you a wimp. Grace makes you a winner. You get to decide which you will be! + + +