Disappointment Fatigue Turned Dreamers

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Disappointment, dreams

Proverbs 13:12 “When hope’s dream seems to drag on and on, the delay can be depressing, but when at last your dream comes true, life’s sweetness will satisfy your soul.” (Passion Translation)

Bill Johnson of Bethel Church in Redding, CA says, how you deal with disappointment is critical to your success in the kingdom. Everyone has gotten their hopes up, only to have something not turn out the way you thought it was going to. Many have heard prophetic words, personal testimonies, or declarations of God’s supernatural provision, only to have your situation not change. Disappointment is a reality that ever person deals with and if we do not navigate the waters of disappointment carefully, we will stop before we breakthrough.

Eric Johnson of Bethel Church in Redding, CA told a story of some gold miners in the southern part of the USA, who dug a mine in search of gold, only to stop 70 ft. short of one of the largest gold mines in America. He tells this story as a reminder to us, that even though we can’t see it, we are closer than we realize to what we have worked our whole life to receive. When it is dark, when all you do is dig, pray, fast, ask, listen, believe, and repeat that over and over again, without obvious rewards for obedience, it is easy for disappointment fatigue to set in.

Kris Vallaton of Bethel Church in Redding, CA says, hope deferred only makes the heart sick when you stop hoping. He goes on to say, if you don’t stop hoping, your heart will not get sick. I love how this church is so encouraging in our reality, that we will get there. I Corinthians 13:13 says, Faith, Hope and Love remain, but the greatest of these is love. There are three things that will remain when you strip everything away, faith, hope and love.

Faith is believing that God will do what He said He will do and that you are who God says you are. Hope is the ability to keep believing, keep dreaming, keep going, even when you are not seeing the breakthroughs you thought you would see by now. Love, well that is deeper and wider than can be expressed here, but it is the greatest of all things and without love you are nothing, so love is still truly the answer for the world today.

So, I am not sure how you are doing, but I wanted to encourage you today that if you are suffering from disappointment fatigue, know others are as well. Also, never forget, hope deferred may make the heart sick, but when at last your dream comes true, life’s sweetness will satisfy your soul. God is not a man that He should lie and you are more than you think you are, so even as disappointment fatigue seeks to steal your faith, rob you of hope and cause your love to grow cold, know that we are literally on the cusp of the greatest breakthrough the world has ever seen and it is closer than any of us realize. I can’t wait to meet all the dreamers, than didn’t stop 70ft. short of the gold mine of God’s presence.

Disappointment: A Destiny Battle

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Christianity, Christians, Disappointment, grace, Growth, life, maturity, spiritual growth, Truth

Have you ever gotten your hopes up for something and then it didn’t happen the way you thought it would? Have you ever believed you heard God say something, but it ended not turning out the way you believed it would? Have you ever been fully convinced of something, promised something, confident about something, to only have it not happen? Yeah, me too.

Disappointment is a hard pill to swallow, because you hope, you believe, you are truly convinced of something good happening, then that very thing you were so sure of does not happen and disappointment sets in. I was living in Malaysia and working as a permanent substitute teacher at an International School. I was in good standing with the administration and other teachers, in addition, my relationship and effectiveness with the students was evident to all. Three positions in my department came open, this is unusual, since I am in Guidance and Counseling, but all three counseling positions in our school came open. My principal spoke to me and asked which position I wanted, so I told him and he said your name is penciled in, but we have to go to some job fairs and find the other two positions before we can give you a contract for your position. I was elated by this, now my son could attend this school, which was one of my hearts desires, I would have a full time job and this would add income to our family and help fulfill some of our dreams as a family. Everywhere I turned this looked the like blessing of the Lord and to say the least, I was very excited. I believed this was an answer to my prayers, I sensed the Lord say this job was for me, I mean I knew that I knew this was the job, I had went to school for.

Have you ever been in that place where everything lined up according to what you were praying for? Have you ever been fully convinced in your spirit, then it all was in agreement in the natural? Have you ever had so many confirmations about what you heard God say, that you were already spending the money and decorating your office, so to speak, in what you knew was going to happen? This is faith right, being confident of what we do not see and acting as though we already have it. Faith is what pleases God, so I was to say the least, fully engaged by faith in this answer to my prayer. Then one day, my principal comes into my office and says, I don’t  know how to say this, but while we were out on a job fair, we found a husband and wife team, whom of which both are school counselors and we needed the one position and her husband wanted your position, so we gave it to them. I am so sorry, this is such a rare thing that happened, but it is our policy to hire husband and wife teams. He then walked out of my office. Selah!

I sat there in my office, stunned. Really, is this really happening right now, I so convinced that this is what the Lord told me, how did I miss this one? You can only imagine the thoughts running through my head, the questions I had, the temptation to be mad at God. But, I heard a sermon by Bill Johnson on dealing with disappointment and he said how we handle disappointment determines our destiny. I did not understand the relevance of this message, until this very moment. I had to decide was God still good, even though I didn’t get what I want, or was I going to stop believing in God? It was a very real question and whether you hear it in your head or your heart, you are asking the same thing when you experience disappointment.

Bishop Raphael Green says, we go through destiny battles. I was in a destiny battle and did not even realize it. I was disappointed, to say the very least, but one thing I knew, is that God is good and that He works out all things for the good, for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. The disappointment did not go away, but the battle was won, because I decided that even though He slay me, still I would follow. I was not going to let the loss of a job destroy my destiny in God.

Every one of us faces disappointments, some are more hard to handle than others, but disappointment is no respecter of persons. However, it is a destiny battle and how you handle disappointment determines your destiny. The enemy will mock God, He will try and tell you God lied to you, God is not for you, God doesn’t want you blessed, and on and on the mocking goes. But, if you can push past the pain of disappointment, you will hear a whisper that says, it was for my glory. God does not break His promises, He does not lie, He is faithful, He is good, He is our Father, and what you believe about Him comes out when you are facing a destiny battle. Don’t doubt the goodness of God, for in due time, you will reap a harvest for all the seeds you have sown, whether financially or in tears. They are all seeds and He is faithful, even when we are going through disappointment. Win the destiny battle my friend! I did and I know you can and you will.