Disappointment…discouragement.  It’s the gap between expectation and reality.  How many times do we find ourselves left in this place.

Disappointment when things don’t go as planned.  The weather disappoints us. The traffic on the way into work disappoints us.  Our kids and parents disappoint us.  We are at times the mode of disappointment in the lives of others.

Disappointment never disappoints me with the strike it takes to the hope in my soul.  One thing is for certain and that is disappointment likes to deliver that venomous bite of discouragement whenever it can. It is determined and it’s point is to disable, defeat and deflate.   Even if we’re not truly disabled, defeated or deflated Disappointment likes to make us THINK that way.  It knows if we let those feelings and thoughts take root we will begin to BEHAVE that way.

There is a antidote for Disappointment another “D” word.

Deliverer.  The Word of God discusses disappointment from the first Book.  When Adam and Eve  experienced disappointment in the Garden when they chose to believe a lie instead of holding on to the truth.  They disappointed God and each other.  Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the devil. Disappointment leads to blame.  We blame each other, ourselves and God when things don’t go our way.

God was their deliverer out of the Garden and into Grace.  That is where he leads us too.  Rather our disappointment is a result of unmet expectations, poor choices that we have made or the impact of choices others have made; God is our Deliverer out of the disappointment and into Grace.

He shows us grace for when we disappoint Him.  If anyone knows how it feels to be disappointed it would be Him.  Yet He shows us grace.  And He expects us to show others grace too when they disappoint us.  And He expects us to have a little grace with ourselves when we disappoint ourselves.

Disappointment is one of those expectations that we can pretty much figure on dealing with during our life time,  if not during every day of it.  However, we have a Deliverer who will seek us out, ask us by name where we are, deal with our disappointment and give us a way out.

When disappointment dresses itself in the form of discouragement we can say as David did in the Psalms  “Why so downcast O My Soul, put your Hope in God and Bless the Lord O my Soul.”