Disappointed...

A man was just waking up from anesthesia after surgery, and his wife was sitting by his side. His eyes fluttered open and he said, "You're beautiful." Then he fell asleep again.

His wife had never heard him say that before, so she stayed by his side. A few minutes later his eyes fluttered open and he said, "You're cute. "
The wife was disappointed because instead of "beautiful," it was now "cute."
She asked, "What happened to beautiful?"
The man replied, "The drugs are wearing off."

Life can be disappointing at times. Sometimes, it's the big things that get us. The bills pile up, work isn't going so well, we get sick, a loved one dies, or something else that is just a big deal. Other times, it's the little things. I got disappointed the other day because we were out of bread and I was "jones'n" for a peanut butter sandwich! You know what I'm talking about... you do it too. We all let the little things get us down every once in a while. 

I've come to realize that so much of life is about expectation. When we fall short of our expectations, it's easy for disappointment to creep in. We expect to be debt free in 3 years, but 3 1/2 years later we've barely made a dent in it. We expect a happy marriage, but we live a pretty long time in the "for worse" part of the deal. We expect to have a relaxing night, but one of the kids gets sick. We expect to hang out with our friends, but we get a load of extra homework. WE EXPECT A DELICIOUS PEANUT BUTTER AND STRAWBERRY JELLY SANDWICH, BUT WE'RE OUT OF BREAD!!!!!....(sorry about that, I tend to take peanut butter pretty seriously...)

Disappointment is caused by unmet expectations, but it's cured by revamped expectations.We live in a fallen world. We fall, the people around us fall. As long as we keep expecting the plans of un-perfect people to work out perfectly we will continue to be disappointed. But when we revamp our expectations, and begin to expect great things from God, he will bring us out of our disappointment. David wrote about this is Psalm 42. Check it out...

Psalm 42:5 says, "Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul? Why are you crying the blues? Fix my eyes on God— soon I'll be praising again. He puts a smile on my face. He's my God." (The Message)

Whatever disappointments you're dealing with today, let them go. Fix your eyes on God... soon you'll be praising again. He wants put a smile on your face. He's your God. 

If you want to shake off disappointment, let your expectations rest on the God who can take your greatest troubles, and make them your greatest triumphs!