dealing with disappointment

“I’m very disappointed in you.”

The words of my dad still haunt me today. He never raised his hand to me and didn’t need to. I was cut to the heart.

I had given him my word that I would stop breaking the law (and his heart), but hadn’t. Worse still, I had dragged my brother into my world of sin. I was a 16-year-old who was rapidly spinning out of control and on a path to ruin both my life and the lives of others.

Fortunately, my dad’s words were just what I needed. Though they wounded me deeply, they were necessary and did the job of getting a rebellious teenager’s attention.

Thinking back to what was said almost 40 years ago, I can’t help but wonder if my heavenly Father has ever been tempted to say the same thing to me now. I’m guessing He has.

I don’t want to sin, but I do. And when I tell Him I’m sorry, I mean it. And when I tell Him I don’t want to sin, I mean it. But then I do it again. And again. And again.

I’m maddeningly evil.

It’s during these times that I take solace in the words of the Apostle Paul, arguably the greatest follower of Jesus to ever live:

“I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing.”1

Knowing the Apostle struggled with sin just as I struggle with it is comforting. It doesn’t let me off the hook, but it helps to know that we share a common frustration. It helps to be reminded that both of us are merely human.

Am I the only one who feels crushed when I disappoint my holy and sinless God? My hunch is there are others out there. In fact, maybe you’re one of them.

If so, be encouraged as I’m encouraged: Our sins are covered by the blood of Christ because of our faith.2 Even sins we haven’t committed yet.

“Though you have not seen (Christ), you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.3

Be encouraged, my friend, because if your faith is the real deal you have nothing to worry about. While you may disappoint your heavenly Father from time to time as I do, it is well with our souls.

In fact, at this very moment, we’re “receiving the goal of” our “faith, the salvation of” our “souls.”

Pretty cool, huh?

1  Romans 7:18-19

2  1 Peter 1:18-21

3  1 Peter 1:8-9