When things don’t work out as planned we can end up feeling disappointed and suffering a loss of enthusiasm and energy for life. Primarily because disappointment has a way of making you feel like you’ve been kicked and beaten up where it hurts most.
However we are in very good company whenever we feel disappointed or discouraged. Noah in the bible preached for decades and only 8 people ever responded favourably. (Genesis 5; 2 Peter 2:5) Joseph helped someone and when they had the opportunity to assist him in return they left him forgotten in an Egyptian prison for years. (Genesis 40:5-15; 23) Moses came down off Mt Sinai after having a “full on” encounter with God to discover that all the people he was responsible for leading were busy worshipping a golden calf. (Exodus 32:1-8) Jeremiah was thrown into a well for speaking the truth and doing what God had told him to. (Jeremiah 38:1-6) David, Job, the early disciples of Jesus, Paul and many others all suffered from discouragement.
These people’s faith is documented to inspire us to persevere and overcome disappointment. They kept going through tough times and discovered how to be kind to themselves by choosing to have a attitude of grace and forgiveness, rather than judging, comparing and putting themselves down.
Today i encourage you to be kind to yourself and to ask God for His wisdom as to how to best do that. Is it that you need to take a break from such things as social media or being part of toxic past times, relationships or conversations for a while?
Being kind to ourselves means choosing what and who surrounds us and taking the time to turn to God for His wisdom, perspective and encouragement. Plus it will help us to not get stuck in the shame and guilt cycle of feeling like we’ve failed, and instead will help us to grow and develop through our disappointments.
Today choose kindness and determine to avoid the comparison trap and negativity so that any suffered disappointments don’t leave you down and out, but rather wiser and stronger.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for your encouragement and that its okay to take time to be kind to myself so that I can strengthen and recover from disappointments well. I ask for your grace and perspective of every situation I face today. In Jesus name amen.