Disappointment
During my high school years, I was a huge David Bowie fan. I knew all the words to his songs and I even had a David Bowie haircut. You know the one with short spiked hair on top and long in the back. (Business in the front and party in the back) Please don’t ask for pictures because they have all been destroyed. Hey, it was the 70’s, we all had strange haircuts and weird clothes but we were cool. One day the news broke, Bowie would be coming to our city to perform. This was before the Internet and so I waited in line for hours to obtain my tickets to see my favorite rock star. The tickets were very expensive but it didn’t matter because I was going to be in the same building and breath the same air as David Bowie. The day finally came and I don’t think I slept a wink the night before due to the anticipation and excitement. I got there early and waited. The time came for the concert to begin and nothing happened. There was no warm up group and no announcements. An hour passed and finally, Bowie arrived on the stage. He sang maybe 3 songs and took a break. 30 minutes later he returned and sang 3 more songs and left. There was no encore. There was no announcement “David Bowie has left the building.” To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I didn’t, however, go home and throw away all my Bowie records. I didn’t change my hairstyle. I continued to be a devoted fan.
I look back at how quickly I forgot about the disappointment I experienced with a human I didn’t even know and how hard it is for me to get past my perceived disappointments with God whom I do know. I hung unto my disappointment list for God through my adolescent years and kept God on trial and at a distance. This list consisted of trials I had experienced and believed God could have intervened and saved me from my pain and hardships. God eventually revealed to me the truth found in Romans chapter 5.
Romans 5:3-5 (NKJV) 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
As long as I held onto my resentments toward God, I could not experience the growth described in the verses above. We may never know why God permits certain trials and hardships to occur in our lives but we can know and experience His love that is poured into our hearts. At this very moment you may be in a place of disappointment with God. I encourage you to trust His words and the process that is described in Romans 5:3-5. I encourage you to trust your pain to the One who understands it and bore it for you. He is the author of hope and His hope will never disappoint us. For He is the Perfect Hope.