How does God deal with our disappointment?

so what happens to our peace when we are disappointed what happens to our peace when we're disappointed we're in week four of our series searching for peace let's be honest we've all been there right we've gotten that phone call that relationship has ended we find ourselves in a place where we are anxious overwhelmed we're lonely we're frustrated we're disappointed or maybe frankly we're just weary and in those moments where's our peace where's our peace when we find ourselves in those places and often times lots of times after we've experienced those emotions we find ourselves asking

the question where are you Jesus Where Are You Jesus where are you when I'm disappointed frustrated over Med and anxious David expressed these raw emotions to God in Psalm Chapter 13 How long Lord will you forget me forever how long will you hide your face from me how long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart anybody ever been there how long will my enemy triumph over me friends I want you to hear this today feeling this way is not a lack of faith in fact it's often where

Faith becomes real see Faith allows us to cry out in the middle of the night and press on when the path forward seems impossible Faith allows us to have a conversation with god in the middle of the night and wrestle with him and have a simple raw and honest conversation about how we feel heavy we're disappointed with where we find ourselves when I look at the words of David I reflect those sentiments I I felt that way I've had those conversations with God and here's what I've come to understand how do you know God as

provider or Jehovah Gyra see Israel every time that they encountered God doing something different they gave him a new name when they experienced God as provider they named him Jehovah Gyra how do you know God as provider if you have hav't experienced lack how do you know God is healer or Jehovah Rafa if you've not experienced sickness how do you know God is friend if you've never experienced loneliness see this is where Faith grows when you're in the throws of difficulty and struggle and here's what I know it's not fun it's not easy but it's

the place that we find ourselves in life where we have to ask ourselves this question where are you where are you Jesus and when you find yourself there wrestling in the depths not knowing what step to take where do you turn I remember feeling this way in my early 20s I felt a disappointment that I had never experienced I was searching for purpose I had applied to become a a Johnson County Sheriff's deputy I thought being part of a team of legal beagles would give me purpose see I'd changed my career track from being a

history teacher to Ministry and I sure wasn't getting hired by any church anytime soon and so I'd put all my hopes in working for the sheriff's department Kristen and I were engaged but she lived all the way up here in Valley City North Dakota and I hopped in the car one morning because I was going to make my way up here and as I was driving somewhere north of sou Falls I got a phone call from the sheriff's department they told me that even though I was at the very last stage of the interview process

I would not be hired I felt like everything was falling apart I mean how could I be a husband to Kristen and provide for our f Future Family if I couldn't even get a big boy job what did I spend all of those years in college pursuing if I couldn't even get a job I was so angry and frustrated and I bet you've had moments just like this too I bet you found yourself there or maybe you're there right now Ephesians chapter 2:10 tells us for we are God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do

good works which God prepared in advance for us to do at that moment I didn't feel like anyone's handywork I just felt the weight of disappointment I felt complete disbelief if I'm honest I felt like a total failure and I needed God to lend me his faith I needed him to help me with my unbelief have you ever felt like that if you could see 10 years down the road it might all make sense but right now right now you just feel broken you want a great marriage but all you do is fight you landed

your dream job only to discover that it is a terrible work environment you've battled chronic illness for years and asked God for healing but it still hasn't come you know that you're meant to be a apparent but those pregnancy tests keep showing up negative what do you do when God is silent and life isn't going the way you thought it would well the first thing that you and I can do is remember God's character see even in in disappointment we can anchor ourselves to a God who is unchanging amen God is faithful 2 Timothy 2:3

REM 213 reminds us if we are faithless he remains faithful he cannot disown himself God's faithfulness doesn't depend on our faith that's really good news when we are broken and disappointed when we can't muster up enough self-reliance God instead says will you yield to the hope that I have will you find yourself at rest in him because God is faithful to himself and to his word aw toer one of my favorite authors says this God must do everything for us our part is to yield and Trust when we're searching for God's faithfulness maybe the best

thing we can do is sit at his feet and say God whatever you're doing give me wisdom to follow your leading see faith is coming to the end of your striving and saying God Have Your Way Psalm 4610 David writes this cease striving be still and know that I am God so today would you stop wrestling with God and start working with him you are his craftsmanship you were created in Christ Jesus for good works see God is good you're supposed to say all the time all the time we see God fulfill his promises through

scripture he promised Israel they would be free from Egypt but it took 400 years he called Joseph to be a leader but he was betrayed and sent into prison and it took 14 years from the prison to the Palace the woman with the issue of blood spent 12 years in all of her worldly resources searching for healing only to touch the Garment of Jesus and be healed in an instant Abraham and Sarah waited 25 years from the time of the promise of Isaac until they held him in their arms see as we talked about last

week God is working in the waiting and no matter our current situation he he is faithful God's faithful to us not our plans God's faithful to us not our ideas God's faithful to us not just our circumstances God is faithful to us see God is simply in the business of pursuing relationship with us God isn't utilizing us to accomplish his purposes he can do it without us he doesn't need us no God desires connection with his kids he wants constant ongoing relationship God doesn't always correlate our dreams with his best but God's best always connects

us with relationship with him amen so that leads me to the next thought that I'd like to talk about today when we feel like God is silent in our lives number two look for God's work in unexpected places see what I've learned over life is Disappointment often stems from unmet expectations we think God's going to work a certain way and he doesn't we feel abandoned we feel disappointed we feel let down but God often Works in ways that we can't foresee Joseph told his brothers in Genesis chap 20 50 verse 20 you intended to harm

me but God intended it for good see in the middle of disappointment it's easy to miss the small ways that God is moving so look for the ways that God's trying to bless you maybe you ask yourself these questions what might God be teaching me in this season and a season where he feels silent how could this situation be preparing me for something greater see sometimes the The Detour is part of the journey the job that you didn't get might lead to an incredible opportunity the relationship that ended might open the door for deeper healing

and growth trusting God that he's working when we can't see it is the way forward when he feels silent see after I got that call from the sheriff's office I was in probably one of the lowest places of my life and I drove back from North Daka I was working at a place called jaak the juvenile intake and Assessment Center anytime a child under 18 came in contact or a minor came in contact with law enforcement they were brought to us and we assessed what their next steps would be if they needed to be placed

in treatment if they needed to be placed in in a foster home if they needed to go home on house arrest or maybe they just needed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while I was working there I met several deputies that that loved Jesus and one of them in particular knew my story he knew that I was a a a student at Mamer nazarine University I had played football and that I was trying to become a youth pastor and one night this deputy walked in my office and he said hey Mike I don't know if

you uh have been on this website but there's a job opening in topa Kansas for a youth pastor you should apply I immediately hopped on and I applied right then and a few weeks later I was meeting with that church God works in the most unexpected ways thank you officer long for having faith in me when I didn't have faith in myself the crazy thing is even weeks later I tried to go back and log back into that website and there was a firewall that protect proted you from not being able to go look at

uh solicitous content like church websites okay you couldn't go there and I could never get back to that website again but in that moment God was working in the most unexpected way he used a sheriff's deputy to call me into the career that God had planned for me I didn't expect it but God was working and the waiting see setbacks are often times setups for a comeback with God there are no wins and losses only wins and learning this is even harder to to live out but it's it's true in these moments we learn to

lean into faith that can sustain us when we see God show up in unexpected ways number three we need to focus on the Eternal perspective friends our disappointments are real those moments where we feel heartache and are completely broken are real but in the end our story is not over Pastor Steven oftentimes says the last chapter has yet to be written Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:17 for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all when we're in the middle of pain it's hard to see beyond

it but God sees the bigger picture our struggle on Earth are temporary and they are preparing for us something far greater this doesn't minimize our pain it puts it in the context of Eternity Jesus himself fac disappointment and suffering in the book of Isaiah Jesus is referred to as the man of constant sorrow Jesus battled heartache disappointment and betrayal he prayed in the garden of geim father if you are willing take this cup from me yet he trusted the father's plan and because of his sacrifice we have the promise of redemption and restoration and one

day all of our disappointments all of our sorrows will be replaced with the joy of his presence that's an amen moment number four we need to engage in community what I've experienced over my life is that disappointment often times can isolate us I mean we all can use a pint of Ben and Jerry's in a good show binging right but that's not going to get us where we want to go see healing often times comes through Community we're not meant to walk through our pain alone we need to share our struggles with trusted friends and

family members or mentors we need to let them pray with us encourage us and remind us that God is faithful there's a man down in Oaks North Dakota named Kelly Lov who is the reason that I'm still in Ministry over my 22 years as a pastor he has been a rock on the hardest days and a friend on the days when I needed a hug I often times call him just to be encouraged his text message to me often starts out like this Mike I love you and I believe in the call of God on

your life it gives me strength to keep going when the days are long and the nights are short see the church is supposed to be built on community we're supposed to operate like a family the early church certainly did and the book of Acts chapter 2 we we see that Believers met together they shared meals they supported one one another they didn't pretend everything was perfect but They Carried each other's burdens listen to this from acts 242 they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to Fellowship to the breaking of bread and to prayer everyone

was filled with awe at The Many Wonders and signs performed by the apostles all the Believers were together and had everything in common they sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts they broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere Hearts praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved I pray often that this would be what True North Church looks like I see it

glimpses of it when we serve our community Through The Giving Tree I see glimpses of it when I hear stories about City groups Gathering and supporting each other I see glimpses of it when I hear about stories or I'm a part of showing up when somebody is in the midst of struggle and providing them with a resource or a hug cuz a hug can be a resource amen I wonder what it would look like if every need was met in our community because we took the mission of God seriously and we actually begin to live

this out I've also learned that sometimes hearing how God's working in other people's lives can encourage me when I was a little boy Sunday nights we would go to church and often times I didn't understand it at the moment the pastor just hadn't prepared a sermon so we would have testimony night and they would just pass the microphone around and every person who had a hankering to share about how God was working can I get it amen would share a story but it was encouraging to me to hear those stories about how God was showing

up in the midst of people's lives see your story as powerful and effective when your story is combined with the resources of heaven when God's showing up in your midst number five we need to lean into God's promises God's word is full of promises that we can hold on to in times of disappointment so here's a few of them that I've learned to meditate on and encourage me when the days are long and the nights are short Psalm 34:18 the Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit Romans

8:28 we and we know that in all things God works for those who love him and who are called according to his purpose I've heard it said if the story hasn't ended in good it hasn't ended yet that's God's promise Isaiah 41:10 so do not fear for I am with you do not be dismayed for I am your God I will strengthen you and help you I will uphold you with my righteous right hand friends I would encourage you to write these promises down speak them over yourself when Judah was really little he had night

tears and I begin to memorize Psalm 91 and I would go in and sit next to his bed and just speak it over him those who rest in the shadow of the almighty will find peace and I would just speak those words over him and it was amazing how God's word would begin to change the atmosphere see knowing God's promises realign it realigns our heart with the truth that God is for us and that even when we feel like he's distant he's actually right here God's promises remind us of the truth that we're loved in

every season in every situation so when we find ourselves searching for peace I believe that if we turn to God's promises we will find what we're looking for this has been a gift in my family so many different times and I'm also going to tell you this when you're searching for peace a great therapist can be a gift one that's worth pursuing there are so many options to walk out of dark Seasons friends I just simply don't want us to settle and say well it's always going to be this way amen number six choose to

trust again trusting God doesn't mean we aren't going to face disappointment it doesn't mean that uh we're we're never going to have difficulty it it means that even in the waiting even in the confusing even in the pain we can trust daily that God is at work we can learn to say I don't understand but I trust you think about Peter walking on the water the moment he got out of the boat he was so confident but when he took his eyes off of Jesus the wind and the waves begin to overwhelm him how many

of us find ourselves in that exact same place when we take our eyes off of Jesus the worry of life becomes too great and we run back to Old Habits we need to fix our eyes on Jesus friends God is not offended by our disappointment he meets Us in it he works through it with us and ultimately he uses it to draw us closer to him so today if you're feeling let down if you're feeling frustrated if you're feeling disappointed with the god of Heaven I want you just to take a moment with me and

we're going to Bow our heads and we're going to pray out loud together because the reality is every single one of us have had moments where we've experienced heartache and frustration so would you just bow your heads with with me real quick and just pray this out loud father God I trust you would you remind me when the days are long and the nights are short that you are at work that you're working in the waiting thank you Jesus for meeting me right where I am strengthen my heart today help me to stop wrestling with

you and start working with you have your way today we love you amen guys I believe that Jesus is meeting us in the midst Amen in the midst of our disappointment in the midst of our struggle and so we get stand and we get to sing right now about how good our God is so would you join me let's stand and let's sing