Get used to disappointment………

Allow me to share a funny story from my youth, and trust me it will lead to a point. When I was a little boy back in the hills of Kentucky, I had one major hero in my life, Roy Rogers. I used to listen to Roy Rogers on the radio in my bedroom at night, every night, (this was before TV). I had Roy Rogers, pajamas, underwear, shirts, cap pistols, you name it, if said Roy Rogers on it I wanted it! One night on his radio show they advertised for Roy Rogers Oatmeal cookies. I didn’t even like oat meal cookies but I had to have some, so my parents ordered them for me. This, of course, was along time ago, but my memory is that for weeks I waited anxiously for the oat meal cookies to arrive, but day after day, no package arrived in the mail. I can remember laying in bed at night wondering, and obsessing about where my cookies were. I even imagined the truck delivering them wrecking and my cookies, my Roy Rogers cookies laying on the side of the road somewhere in Kansas….. My cookies never arrived. To say I was disappointed, was an understatement.

That might have been a funny story but it is illustrative of many experiences we will have in life.
Disappointment is a part of life. Not everything works out like we would like for it to. People let us down, and disappoint us, companies break their promises to us, institutions don’t live up to the standards we believe they should, even churches. What are we to do?

In God’s word, in Romans it says, “all have fallen short of the glory of God.” It didn’t say most or even the vast majority, it said “ALL”. So that settles it. Since falling short of the glory of God is sin, we are all sinners, every last one of us. When the religious leaders of the day accused a woman of being an adulterer, and she admitted she was, and demanded she be stoned which was the accepted punishment of the day for that sin, Jesus gave a profound command. He said , “yes she has sinned, so let he among you that has not sinned, cast the first stone.” Little by little, starting with the oldest, they all walked away leaving their stones on the ground. Jesus said to the woman, “since no one here condemns you neither do I, go and sin no more.” Why did the oldest leave first? They had sinned the most.

We shouldn’t be surprised when people disappoint us, God himself said we are all sinners. It doesn’t matter whether you go to church or not, you’re still a sinner. It never ceases to amaze me that people are shocked when they find people that claim to be Christians, still do bad things.
We all do bad things. We all say things we shouldn’t say, act in ways we shouldn’t act and prove ourselves to be just what God said we were, falling short of God’s plan for us.

If you choose not to accept Jesus because one of his followers has wronged you, then you’re making a fatal mistake. You’re denying yourself your own salvation because someone else was not perfect. I had a reader send me an email and she said, you are way too hard on yourself, you never take credit for anything. She was right, but it’s not being hard on myself, it’s an attempt to never let anyone put their eyes on me, instead of on Jesus. Jesus will not disappoint you, ever, unfortunately I will. I’m human, I’m a sinner, I’m a forgiven sinner, but a sinner all the less.

What the world needs is people that love Jesus, and then they love others with His love. They admit to being imperfect and they try to move peoples eyes off of themselves and onto Him. If you do that, you will be much less of stumbling block for others.

I can say one thing with complete certainty, my life has never been the same since I gave my heart and life to Him. I’ve been more at peace, filled with more joy, enjoyed more success (though my definition of success has changed). I can forgive more easily, I worry less about the future, and I enjoy others more. I’m not consumed about what others think of me. I am much more content, whether richer or poorer. I know my life has purpose ,and I know He loves me unconditionally. Most of all I know I’m in no position to pick up a stone, and deep in my heart, I’m so filled with His love, and forgiveness, I don’t want to.

the pilgrim

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, and when the chance arises, forgive others, and
yourself.

*Photo Note: Looking at the sunrise from above Cadillac Mountain in Acadia N.P. the first place that receives sunlight in the U.S. each morning. D3, 70-300 AFs-VR lens. ISO 1600