Dealing with disappointment

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Sometimes there are coincidences that are uncanny. I dropped in on a discussion group yesterday and found out that the topic for discussion (prompted by the USA election results, no doubt) was “dealing with disappointment.”

I offered one word as my contribution to the discussion: remember. And I’d like to use that word for today’s brief reflection. The command to remember is used repeatedly in the Scriptures, in many different contexts. I point out just two examples and then I’ll explain why I chose the word remember to help us address times of disappointment:

“Remember the days of old; consider the years long past.” (Dt 32:7)

“I remember the deeds of the Lord,

I remember your wonders of old.” (Ps 77:12)

And, for what it is worth, my explanation:

Remember. Think back. Think back to times when you have suffered disappointment, times that you had to take to prayer. Remember how you were helped, and possibly how the aid came to you more quickly or more wondrously than you could have imagined possible. Remember how God sustained you during times of disappointment as soon as you remembered to turn to Him. Remember how you had managed to survive painful and unexpected disappointments. Remember how you wanted to turn to the east but the events of your life turned you towards the west, and although you couldn’t realize it at the time, you now realize that it was the hand of God that had turned you to a new direction that brought you safely to a new land.

Remember prayers answered. Remember prayers denied, and then you learned how it was for a better reason. Remember hopes unfulfilled, and how in the disappointment you found yourself drawing closer to God than ever before.

Many of us in the USA fear that we are about to embark upon dark times. And perhaps we are. But remember how, in the darkest times of your life, God was doing for you what you could not do for yourself. Remember your faith and realize that trials serve to increase your faith, not whittle it away, and remember how the most important thing in your existence is the closeness of your personal relationship to Our Lord, and how that relationship will be strengthened by whatever may come. And finally, remember how many times, during a visitation from the Divine, these words were spoken: Do not be afraid. I am with you.

Remember these things. Be at peace.

God bless you!