Jump Start # 2463

Psalms 34:8 “O taste and see tha the Lord is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.”

I have a friend who owns a ‘vette. He’s been trying to convince me that I’d look nice in one. I agree, especially a red one. It would go well with my eyes. He thinks I ought to buy one for myself. That would be sweet, but it won’t happen. There are many reasons why it won’t happen. I don’t have a place to keep it. You don’t let a corvette sit outside through Indiana winters. That would be bad. And, then there is the cost factor. The money it would take needs to be in other places.

Thinking about that made me realize that there are many things that will not happen. I’m in my ‘60’s and reality tells you that certain goals, dreams, wishes are just not going to happen. I once had in my mind that I’d like to own a small farm, with a tractor. That’s not going to happen. I thought at one time I’d like to be a history teacher in a small college on the East Coast. That’s not going to happen either.

The end of our verse today is so helpful for a person who may feel like they haven’t done much in their life. We are in Jesus Christ and we are a people who are bound for Heaven. Nothing here touches that. Nothing here equals that. Instead of holding one’s head down and feeling sorry for yourself, one needs to see the rich blessings he has in the Lord.

Life is full of disappointments. They often start very early in life. You don’t get the birthday or Christmas present that you really wanted. What you got was nice, but it’s not what you were hoping for. Sometimes meal time is a disappointment, especially for kids. Leftovers! But the list of disappointments grows as one ages. You didn’t make the team. The girl you like doesn’t want to go out on a date with you. You don’t get the teacher that you wanted. Later on, the job you wanted, you didn’t get. The promotion you wanted, you didn’t get. The dream house is sold before you could buy it.

All of us have our own disappointments. Some seem much bigger than others. I have a friend who played professional baseball. His teams never made the World Series while he was on them. That’s a disappointment I will never have nor understand. I know a couple who tried and tried to have a baby. It never happened. That’s a sadness and a disappointment that is hard to understand. I know someone whose child is in the far country. He longed to see his child come back to the Lord before he died. That didn’t happen. I know another family who no longer talks to one of their grown children. They have never seen their own grandchildren. The holidays are painful as they see families getting together, but know that won’t happen in their home. What a huge disappointment.

What can we learn from disappointments in life?

First, disappointments can turn us bitter and against other people. Jealousy is real. It can happen among brethren and it can happen within the family. Some feel as if they have been cheated in life. They feel as if they did not get what they should have. That disappointment has left a chip on their shoulders. It’s a raw feeling and they are very sensitive about those things.

We can’t keep disappointments from happening to us, but what we can do is keep those disappointments from ruining us and destroying our faith in the Lord.

Second, from our verse today, we must realize how blessed we are. God loves us, forgives us, blesses us and includes us. This world is not our home. The things of this world really do not matter. You are loved and accepted by others. You are part of God’s eternal kingdom. You have a Heavenly home awaiting you. The rest of this stuff really doesn’t matter.

Put this all in the proper perspective. People are people and our natures are all pretty much the same. So, a poor famer living in the 1200’s in Europe, dreamed of having his own little farm. He dreamed of having a cow and a horse. He dreamed of being able to get by on his farm and not having to work for someone else. Well, that dream never came about for him. Plagues, hard times, famines, wars all kept that dream from coming about. But if he was a believer who walked with God, his name is in the book of life. That is what matters today. One hundred years from now, if God allows this world to go on, will it matter that you owed a ’vette, had a farm, sang in a band, or million other dreams that may not come about? It won’t matter. What will matter is whether or not our names are in the book of life.

Third, some dreams are selfish. Some dreams are vain. Some dreams are materialistic. Some dreams, if they did come true, might ruin us spiritually. We might lose our perspective and place. We might think too highly of ourselves. We might get too big for our britches, as my grandma used to say, and get to the point where we don’t even need God. Some dreams just do not need to come true. Some dreams need to change.

Finally, who among us can say that they are not blessed? We are all blessed. God has treated all of us better than we deserve. Even for crushed dreams and disappointments, we are blessed. Often, our Plan A is not God’s. Paul wanted to preach in Asia. God said “No.” God sent Paul to Macedonia. Great things happened there. God had another Plan A than what Paul did. The same can happen to us. A great lesson from this is to learn to bloom where we are planted. Life doesn’t always turn out as we expected. However, what do we do with where we are? Do we continue to walk with God, glorify our Lord and be faithful to Him, or do we use disappointments as an excuse for disobeying God and not keeping our promises with him?

Disappointments…they will happen. What do you do with them and what do they do to you?

Roger