Disappointment

I remember driving in the car with my parents.
We were headed to an amusement park, and I couldn’t wait!
I am sure I asked the age old question, Are we there yet?…over and over.

I am sure they gave me answers that didn’t truly satisfy.
We played I Spy games…and probably sang songs as we drove.
I was about 7 or 8 years old at the time.

I had the energetic patience of a child.
We saw road signs for the park.
I was so anxious to get there.

Soon, we reached a billboard advertisement for the park.
The name of the park, a roller coaster…and the dreaded words.
CLOSED MONDAY.

It was Monday.

I’m sure there were tears.
I’m sure I said something logical like…Can’t we just go anyway?
I remember that we went somewhere for lunch and then headed home.
I was so disappointed.

It was nobody’s fault.
Those were the days before internet and smart phones and information at your fingertips.
Closed Monday…was unknown until it was upon us.

It is a terrible thing to be disappointed.
Hoping for something so much you can taste it…only to have it taken away.
Hoping for something so much that it is the only thing you think about.
Only to never see it come to pass.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.
(Proverbs 13:12)

We can all remember disappointments in our life.
Not making a sports team; not getting a part in the school play.
Not finding the right one to marry; trying to get pregnant only to find…not this month.
Not getting the job you had your heart set on; not getting the house you put the bid on.

The operative word when talking about disappointment is: NOT.

They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. (Mark 5:1-5)

The man recognized Jesus from a distance and fell at his feet.
The demons, who possessed the man, begged Jesus not to torture them.
Jesus commanded the demons to come out of the man.

A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs: allow us to go into them.” He gave them permission and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank and into the lake and were drowned. Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. (Mark 5:11-13)

Satan wants to destroy the image of God in a person.
If Satan can’t destroy the image of God in a person, then he wants to kill the host.
This man yelled and screamed…cut himself…and lived in the tombs.

When Jesus commanded the demons to leave the man, they were forced to obey.
The man, who just minutes before was wild and dangerous, was now in his right mind.
He was sitting with Jesus.

The people were afraid of the change they saw in the man.
They pleaded with Jesus to leave their region.

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed, begged to go with Him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.” (Mark 5:19)

I am sure the man was terribly disappointed.
Jesus had a reason for making the man stay.
The man became a missionary to his own area…the pagan region of the Decapolis.

Disappointment bears fruit!
The operative word, NOT…becomes YOU CAN!
All because of Jesus.

Being with Jesus changes us…even if the situation stays the same.
Being with Jesus calms us…puts us in our right mind.
Being with Jesus…so then we can tell all that He has done for us!

Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who hope in Me will not be disappointed.
(Isaiah 49:23)