Joy Comes in the Morning – Day 7

Bye, Bye Liar!

“Disappointment is inevitable.  But to become discouraged, there’s a choice I make.  God would never discourage me.  He would always point me to himself to trust him.  Therefore, my discouragement is from Satan.  As you go through the emotions that we have, hostility is not from God, bitterness, unforgiveness, all of these are attacks from Satan.” – Charles Stanley

Scripture Reading:  James 4:7-10, Philippians 4:4-9, Isaiah 43:18-19

I admit to often becoming discouraged.  Though it’s not what most people would peg me to be, I am a people pleaser.  I want to make people happy.  Here’s the problem: you will never make everyone happy.  I am often undermined in my job before someone has even met me simply because I’m a female in a male dominated field.  Waiters will give my husband and me terrible service because we’re young and they expect we won’t tip them anyways.  No matter how badly I want something to happen or someone to like me, it doesn’t always happen.  Here’s the good news:  we can disappoint God every day of our lives and He will still love us just as much.  And the best news:  God will never disappoint us!

While it’s great to help your brothers and sisters, it is very shaky ground to base your emotions off others or even yourself.  You can do everything right and still others will fail you.  God is the solid rock we can stand on and find hope and joy in every situation.  He encourages us to think on what is excellent and praiseworthy, and not to dwell on our past disappointments.  With Him, we can get through disappointments without being discouraged.  We can cast away hostility, bitterness, and unforgiveness, trading it for hope.  Also remember that through God we can do all things, and do not let the devil use past disappointments to tell you otherwise!  You may not have gotten that last job, but that only means He has better plans in store for you!  Greater plans than we could ever imagine, and disappointments we face are actually God protecting us from something bad or preparing us for something better.  We can’t choose what happens to us, but we can choose how we react and where we put our faith.

Until next time,

Harlie