FROM DISAPPOINTMENTS TO GOD'S APPOINTMENTS

Based on the message of Pastor Albert Garcia

Disappointments… life is full of them. We get disappointed with our poor living conditions, the slow progression of our careers, or the lack of fruit in our ministries. We also get disappointed with people like our co-workers, our bosses, our own families, ourselves, and even with God.

But more than just an emotion of frustration, disappointment is a spiritual problem that we can only overcome with God. He doesn’t want us to live the rest of our lives under disappointment but under His sovereign power.

HOW CAN WE OVERCOME DISAPPOINTMENTS?

Indeed, we experience a lot of disappointments in life but God can turn them around. He can make beautiful things out of our ashes (Isaiah 61:3). He can turn our darkest moments into treasures in darkness (Isaiah 45:3). Truly, God can turn our disappointment into His divine appointments because He is sovereign.

Divine sovereignty means that God is in control. 

However, when we go through problems, it is easy to think that God is not in control anymore. But this is not true. God is always in control. The Bible proves to us that He is sovereign above all things and even above our problems:

• He is sovereign as through Him and for Him, everything was created (Colossians 16-17)

• He is sovereign so whatever He desires will happen (Isaiah 46:10)

• He is sovereign so no one can undo what He does (Isaiah 43:13)

But while the sovereignty of God is infinite, He uses His power according to His character and attributes. This means that God will not use His sovereign power to do us harm in the end (Jeremiah 29:11).

God is sovereign, yet He is faithful. He is sovereign, yet He is loving. He is sovereign, but He is also good.

PEOPLE IN THE BIBLE WHO OVERCAME DISAPPOINTMENTS

Whatever trials we are going through, they are all subject to the sovereignty of God. Irritations, injustices, painful delays and childhood traumas to name a few, can all be turned around by God to work in our favour because God is in control.

We know this is true as God has done the same for several people in the Bible. At a point in time, they seemed like disappointments, but God changed them to become overcomers.

Joseph

Joseph was hated and was almost killed by his brothers because of their jealousy. He was sold to a merchant and lived several years as a slave. He spent a couple of years in prison for a thing that he did not do. All of which the Lord had used to develop his character.

And when the perfect time came, God raised Joseph from a prisoner to become the second in command to the Pharaoh. Joseph received wisdom from God to know how to prepare Egypt for the famine that was about to come, saving Egypt and even the nations around them (Genesis 41:33-41).

After all those things that happened to Joseph, he was able to say to his brothers, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” (Genesis 50:20)

Job

The book of Job started with a description of him as a blameless man with complete integrity. In spite of this, God allowed him to go through extreme trials. He lost all his livestock one after another. He lost most of his servants. He lost all his children. After which he had painful boils from head to toe.

Such unimaginable pain and loss he had gone through and yet He still praised the Lord saying “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!” (Job 1:20-22).

At the latter part of the book, the Lord showed Job his shortcomings compared to the greatness of God. When Job realized this, he was humbled and he repented before God. When God saw that the purpose of the trial was completed, He ended the trial and He blessed Job with more than what he had before. Job even lived for 140 more years.

From this, we learn that when trials and disappointments have accomplished all its work in us, God will remove it and even reward us with so much more than what we had before.

REASON FOR GOD’S DIVINE APPOINTMENTS

It is said in 2 Timothy 2:20-21, “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honour and some for dishonour. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honour, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.”

To become vessels of honour, we first need to be deeply cleansed by God. We see this cleansing work done in the lives of Jacob, Apostle John, and Apostle Paul.

Jacob

Jacob’s name means “supplanter.” As his name is, he deceived his older brother twice and lived in fear and trouble for a time. When he finally became so desperate for God to save him, God changed his nature by a miracle and his name was changed to “Israel” (Genesis 32:26). From then on, he became one of the most significant figures in the history of the Jewish people.

Apostle John

The Apostle John was first known as one of the “Sons of Thunder” because of his wild and thunderous behaviour. But God was able to change him too. As he followed Jesus and learned from Him, the Apostle John taught people to love others so much so that he became known as the “apostle of love.”

Apostle Paul

Before he became the great Apostle whom we know today, he was known as “Saul,” the great persecutor of Christians of his time. He thought he was serving God by his harsh treatment of Christians until God revealed Himself to him. He then became a true devoted follower of Christ and the apostle to the Gentiles!

Like these great men in the Bible, it is also the Lord’s desire for us to become vessels of honour that would bring glory to His name.

He wants to mould us to become more like Him.

We can liken God to a goldsmith. For a goldsmith to make pure gold, he must expose the gold to intense heat through a furnace. As the gold melts, impurities come out and rise to the top. Under certain extreme temperatures, all those impurities will melt away so that only the pure gold remains.

How then does a goldsmith know if the gold is pure? He knows the gold is already fully refined when the gold becomes so shiny that he can clearly see his reflection on it just like looking into a mirror.

For God to purify His people, He allows them to undergo the furnace of affliction as said in Isaiah 48:10 “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.”

Like a goldsmith, it is not His intention to destroy us (the gold) but to purify us. As we go through all these troubles, God shows us the impurities deeply hidden in our hearts and slowly cleanses us as we yield to Him. It is when the character of God is seen in our lives that we become pure.

CONCLUSION

So if you are going through a disappointing situation today, don’t rush to get out of it. Ask God what He is trying to teach you.

Maybe He is trying to purify you just like what he did to Jacob, Apostle John, and Apostle Paul. Or maybe He wants to prepare you for a greater position just like what He did for Joseph.

For whatever purpose God may have for allowing that disappointment in your life, may you remember that His purposes are always good. And as you yield to Him, you will see how He will turn your disappointment into His divine appointment in His perfect time.