Never Disappointed

Search me, O God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. --Psalm 139:23

I don't always deal with disappointment very well. I have a tendency to spend so much time thinking about how I want things to turn out that I get too caught up in the ideal of a situation. This often leaves me quite dissatisfied with the reality, and I find that I have wasted a lot of energy being axious about the way things should be. rather than seeking contentment in the way things actually are. The disappointment of reality not measuring up to my expectations can make for a big let down. Because I'm a person who likes to set my goals high, occasional disappointments are inevitable. Some people would go so far as to say that to truly avoid disappointments, it is best to never have any expectations.

I have learned that the best way to deal with disappointment is to let God have control in the first place. We shouldn't try to make things turn out the way we want to simply because we think we know what will make us happy. God knows exactly what each of us needs to survive in life. Not only does he provide us with everything to meet our needs, but quite often he blesses us by giving us the things we want in addition to our day to day needs.

When we set our minds on things above and not on earthly things, we reduce our chances of being disappointed. When thinking about the future, it is difficult to determine how much of the things we want to have happen are from ourselves, and how much is from our ambition to serve God. If we set our own motives and plans ahead of God's, we set ourselves up for disappointment. To keep this from happening, we need to make a conscious effort to ask God to search our hearts. If our hearts contain anything selfish, we must ask for patience as we learn how to fill our hearts with the things that God wants for us.

As God searches our hearts and tests our thoughts, we need to learn how to respond to him. We need to set aside our selfishness, and relinquish our ambitions to him. We need to give him the authority to direct our thoughts and fill our hearts. This isn't something that comes naturally, but in when we leave God in charge, we will never be disappointed.