Life's Frustrations and Disappointments

Sometimes, things don’t go exactly as planned, expected, or hoped for.

Case in point: Friday morning, I threw a load of clothes in the washer before heading off to church to accomplish a couple of things. When my husband got home for lunch before I did about two hours later, the washer was still running. Long story short, our washing machine from the late 70s-early 80s broke. The machine wasn’t able to finish the wash cycle; so the clothes were covered in water and unfortunately, were still a bit soapy. This required a trip to the Laundromat (praise the Lord the one Laundromat in Beulah re-opened!) – something that is slightly inconvenient when you’re used to the ease of washing clothes within the comfort of your own home.

However, as Jordan and I waited for our clothes to re-wash, we were extremely blessed. There was an older gentleman who came to wash his clothes shortly after we had arrived. A conversation between the three of us was struck, and we got to know Gary, a man we had never even met before. Gary is an inspector from Missouri, has only been home for 2 weeks all summer, and is a follower of Jesus. Hearing him share about the ministries he is involved in back home and how he had been blessed by believers in Beulah enlarged my heart.

Sometimes, things don’t go exactly as planned, expected, or hoped for.

Case in point: Sunday evening was to be the start of our 7^th-8^th grade girls Bible study. I was truly excited to begin this particular Bible study with this particular group of girls. I was all prepared: we had all the materials for our collages, I ran photocopies of worksheets for the girls, I had sticky notes for them to write down an important Bible passage to remember throughout the next 2 weeks and I had even purchased folders for them to keep everything in. As 6:30 rolled around, no girls burst through our door. 6:45 – still no one. By the time 7:00 came, I decided that both the girls and their parents had forgotten that our Bible study was starting up that night.

So, I decided to accompany Jordan on his walk up to church to lock it up for the night. On the way up, we walked past the home of a family from church that has recently lost a mother and a grandmother. We then spent the next hour or so visiting with this family of four; hearing some of the grief of their recent lost, but also the joy in knowing that she is no longer in pain but is rejoicing with Jesus. When Jordan and I departed, my heart was enlarged and encouraged by the visit with this wonderful family.

Sometimes, things don’t go exactly as planned, expected, or hoped for.

Case in point: “Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:15-17) “Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of every opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.” (Colossians 4:5-6)

How are you going to deal with life’s frustrations and disappointments? Are you going to let yourself get angry or mope over your circumstances? Sometimes, things don’t go exactly as planned, expected, or hoped for. But the LORD is always in control. Are you going to let Him use you and bless you despite frustrations and disappointments? I pray that we will always be open to the Lord’s working in and through us, no matter what the surrounding circumstances are.