Disappointment

I am sure we all have hopes and dreams for this life. I am sure you didn't wake up this morning and say "I hope everything goes wrong today and I have a lousy life". No, but sometimes it just seems to be that way we experience disappointment of a dream or a goal that we were so close to reaching. Our Bible is full of men and women who found themselves not where they thought they would be. Do you think that when the Apostle Paul saw this vision that he thought anything would go wrong when he went to help others?

Acts 16:9
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. He never dreamed of being beaten and thrown into jail. I didn't read of Paul saying we must hurry and get to Rome for there I will be put in prison. No, he never saw any of that coming, but God did. In Philippi he was beaten and yes, he was put in Jail but that night sometime after midnight he was able to save a jailors physical life and then lead that man to Jesus Christ. The night concluded at the jailors home with his whole family coming to know Jesus Christ as their personal savior. You and I do not know what will happen in our day to day business affairs but God may very well use us in someone's life today. We may have something that goes wrong in our life and just as that jailor saw the way Paul reacted that it so affected him that he gave his heart to the Lord Jesus. We must be careful how we react to disappointment for someone may be watching that we can help if we don't let the disappointment destroy us. Painful life experiences may not be enjoyable, but they absolutely can be good and worthwhile if in the midst of them we allow ourselves to be molded into the likeness of Jesus!
A time of trial forces a decision to be made and our response, like facing a fork in the road, determines which road we take. One road leads to despair and bitterness and the other road leads to hope and developing Christ like character.
Today, I encourage you to be mindful that we can't always get what we want in life, but we can choose even in the midst of disappointment to trust that God will provide everything we need!