Beyond Disappointment | Christine Caine
The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17).
We all land in heartbreaking places at some point in life, feeling sad, alone and perhaps drained of our courage to hope again.
The reasons can be a miscarriage, like I had, or something else entirely, like when your children grow up, move away, and never call. When the man you love doesn’t love you back, and the marriage you thought would last forever doesn’t. When colleagues betray you, investments dwindle, friends disappear, dreams shatter, people disappoint you or you disappoint yourself.
Any one of these letdowns can leave us devastated, in shock, sad, discouraged and dismayed. Any one of these things can leave us withdrawing from life, retreating from the plans and purposes of God.
We can’t help but wonder, Is God unfair? Unjust? No. He can’t be, even if it looks and feels that way from our perspective.
Is He hidden? No. Though at times He can feel that way. He’s promised us that He’s with us at all times, that we can’t get away from Him.
Is He silent? Not completely. We know from experience that in seasons when it feels like God is silent, we still have His Word that is full of His messages for us, messages of love and reassurance.
If I was to move beyond the disappointment of my past — despite all the questions that naturally arose in my heart — then I would have to remind myself of all the things about God I knew to be true, especially in the moments when they didn’t feel true.
Today’s devotional was adapted from Chris’ newly revised and updated book, Undaunted.
Christine Caine is an Australian born, Greek blooded, lover of Jesus, activist, author and international speaker. She and her husband, Nick, founded the global anti-human trafficking organization, The A21 Campaign. They also founded Propel Women, an organization designed to activate women to fulfill their God-given passion, purpose, and potential. Christine is the author of several books including her most recent: Unexpected: Leave Fear Behind, Move Forward in Faith, Embrace the Adventure.