Overcoming Disappointments

Date: 05 July 2008
Speaker: Rev Mike Connell
Venue: City Harvest Church

Luke 4:18
“ The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

He has come to reconcile with us. He has come to heal the brokenhearted. He has come to set free those who are bound.

Hebrews 12:2
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

God does not want you to simply survive. He wants you to overcome.

Having disappointments, you carry the grieve and anger inside. Having disappointments, you'll react to the hurt. Having disappointments, you'll become withdrawn to people and to God. However, Jesus has already taken all the grieve and hurt for us at the Cross.

1 Samuel 30:1-4
Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way. So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

The hardened soldiers wept.

1 Samuel 30:6
Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

God gave you emotions. He has emotions too!

Mark 3:5
And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.

Hebrews 5:7
who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear,

Emotions are indicators of our hearts' condition.

Dealing with disappointments.

Luke 24:13-21
Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.
And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?”
Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?”
And He said to them, “What things?”
So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.

The disciples had disappointments and had expectations of what God should do.

Symptoms of disappointments:
- You flock together with disappointed people
- You tend to ask yourself, 'why me'
- You don't recognise God's touch
- You are drawing back from potential hurts
- You carry a perpetual sad look

Jesus first asked about their feelings, so as to open up their hearts to Him. Hesus then focused on the Word, on Himself and on the Promises.

Dealing with disappointments:

- Coming into the presence of God (praying in tongues and asking the Holy Spirit to guide you).

- Face your disappointments honestly.

- Express your emotions to God (grief before Him).

- Ask yourself 'how have i reacted', 'do i need to forgive someone'.

- Re-focus on God and on His Word.