Carolinsblog

I just want to share a few things with you today that I had to think about….

Being disappointed hurts. People I trusted, but who turned out to be untrustworthy afterwards, hurt me and left me alone with this wound of disappointment.

I am disappointed because I couldn’t do what I planned to do or because I didn’t have the time I needed to achieve my goal.

I am disappointed because I thought this person would protect me from others when the opposite is true or because this person did not do what they promised to do.

I’m disappointed because I wasn’t chosen, because I was ignored, because I wasn’t greeted, because I wasn’t treated kindly… and so on, the list can be very long.

It doesn’t matter who disappointed you or why you are disappointed. What matters is how you deal with this disappointment.

For the other paragraphs, I would just like to take out the case where you are disappointed that something didn’t go as expected… then it’s a bit easier to formulate : )

Yes, being disappointed can leave deep wounds that sometimes take months, if not years, to heal… and then they may become scars that remind us of those situations and people over and over again.

Wounds can only heal properly if treated properly and cared for. Otherwise, they can become infected and the original wound gets worse and spreads.

It is important to understand that disappointment is actually a very positive thing. By being disappointed, we see the reality and how things sometimes simply don’t go according to our longings and promises.

Disappointment itself means that we were previously deceived about something, but have been now become, so to speak, un-deceived. We no longer deceive ourselves and are therefore less likely to believe the lies that sometimes promise us the blue sky. It would be worse to remain in this deluded perception and not experience the reality behind it… even if it is often very painful, disappointments help us to make better decisions in the future.

I can deal with disappointment like this… 

I accept that I am vulnerable and admit it.

I recognize that I was wrong in the beginning, that I was deceived or allowed myself to be deceived.

I don’t hold on to the pain of this, but give it to Christ, through whose wounds we have been healed.

I learn from this disappointment to perhaps lower my expectations a little in the future… and I learn to be happy about small successes and positive developments, even if the actual goal may not be or has not yet been achieved.

I want to learn to look with gratitude at things that are not as they should be. I can thank my Lord in every situation, either for those beautiful moments that become wonderful memories or for the pain of the school I have to go through because greater things are waiting for me. It’s all about perspective…

We can learn from the initial deception to lower our expectations and be more grateful so as not to be disappointed.

However, I would like to go further here, because what about God? Is he disappointed when I fall, when I fail, or simply don’t do what I actually want?

No, God can never be disappointed – why? God always knows in advance what will happen, what you will do, or how someone will treat you. He knows in advance whether you will keep your own resolutions or not. To put it even more precisely: God knows today whether you will fall back into the same sin tomorrow from which you actually experienced deliverance years ago.

Honestly, this thought sometimes scares me and sometimes I also tend to use it as an excuse for not making it or for not keeping my resolution again, etc., but that is a wrong approach to this thought.

Often, very often in fact, it calms me down, this thought of God already knowing how this or that will turn out, of him already knowing beforehand that I wouldn’t make it… because that gives me a kind of overview and I begin to understand why I don’t need to worry and why I shouldn’t condemn myself, even if everything went wrong.

God knows about your yesterday, he sees you today – now – and even better: he knows who you will be in the future & what will come your way. When we trust him, we have hope in fear, we remember his promises, and that we can trust him completely.

Cordially,

your Carolin

P.S.: I’d love to know what you think about this… feel free to comment!