How to Handle DisappointmentsSample

God Is Always Speaking 

A third principle that can carry Christians through difficult times is knowing that God is always speaking. Genesis continues the creation story with the words “and God said.” We need to know this truth, no matter what we are going through. No matter how far God seems, no matter how confusing our circumstance appears, the Lord is always speaking His Word. He speaks light into our darkness. 

There are several means through which God can speak into our situations. God can speak to us through His written Word: A Bible verse or passage in our devotional reading can come alive and fill our heart with hope. The Lord can speak through the circumstances themselves: We might be in the middle of despair when we hear good news of something unexpected happening in our lives. We can hear a worship song on the radio that speaks right into our very circumstance, telling us that we are not alone in our suffering. God can also speak to us through other people. The Lord can bring someone from our church, or even a stranger, to give us an encouraging message that fills our heart with hope and our darkness with light. God is always speaking; we just need to learn to listen.

It is not only important to know how the Lord speaks to us in difficult times, but also what He says when we are in despair. Often, we look for an explanation for our challenging circumstances. We want to know why something horrible happened to us. When we are looking for an explanation, we exalt our circumstances and dwell on them. We demand to know why something happened to us and thus focus on the past. The Lord, however, does not give us an explanation. He gives us a promise. His Word fills our heart with hope for the future.

The Lord wants us to heal. As a good Father, he wants us to focus on the future. To do that, we need to take our eyes off our circumstances and focus on God’s goodness. The third principle we need to know to make it through disappointments in life is that God always speaks to us. He gives us a promise of a future and a hope. We can rest assured that no matter what has happened or is going on, we will be alright because we know Jesus.