Oct 16 - Question 4

Out of the wilderness …

and into the Promised Land …

Today, I’m just going to ask the question … and then after you think and respond to make sure you read my confession!

What are you most disappointed with in your life?

RIGHT

NOW,

WRITE

ME

YOUR

ANSWER

…

BEFORE

I

SHOW

YOU

MY

ANSWER.

JUST

BELOW

IS

MY

ANSWER.

BUT

I

WANT

YOU

TO

THINK

ABOUT

YOUR

LIFE

ACTIVELY …

BEFORE

FOCUSING

ON

MINE

PASSIVELY!!!

SO

WHAT

DO

YOU

COMPLAIN

ABOUT

MOST?

I asked Mary Louise, “What would you say I’m most disappointed with in my life?”

And she said, “Well, I think you’re disappointed in _________.” And I stopped her and said, “No. I was formerly disappointed in that, but I’m talking about right now.”

So she said, “Well, I think you’re disappointed in __________.” And I stopped her and said, “No. I I was formerly disappointed in that, but I’m talking about right now.”

All of us have regrets. I’ve done a million things that range from silly and immature to sinful and hurtful. I’ve got plenty of regrets, but as I said to Mary Louise, “I’m talking about right now.”

And when I realized that, I fully comprehended the importance of this question. (Given, by the way, by Kyle Idleman, who wrote Not a Fan).

The weight of this question is two-fold.

•      First, am I living in the past or in the present? If I’m living in the past, old emotions like guilt can swallow me in the present. Sometimes my guilt is over things I’ve done. Sometimes it’s over things I’ve left undone (like the opportunity I didn’t chase, and I can’t get out of my head how much better my life would be if I would have just done ___________.) Do you see the first prison of dwelling in the past?

•      Guilt can swallow us for a second reason. Why do we carry guilt? Because we aren’t trusting God to really be able to fully and truly forgive. We say essentially, “I can’t forgive myself. How can God forgive me?” That’s a huge spiritual issue.

•      Similar to guilt, unforgiveness is another first-form of bondage to our hurts and disappointments. Way too many people are mean and cruel and abusive, and way too many of us have been hurt – badly, badly, badly, badly. Just like we deal with war vets and post-traumatic stress, abuse has battered too many good souls years and years after the event(s). It may take a lot of good counseling, but healing begins to occur when we quit facing backward and focus as Jesus suggested (in Matthew 6:34) on today. 

Again and again I kept saying to Mary Louise, “No. I was formerly disappointed in that, but I’m talking about right now.” Suddenly it dawned on me: While I definitely have past regrets from my life … right now I AM not disappointed in anything in life!!!”

That’s huge!!! The daily, mundane, routine attempts to follow Jesus as a disciple is having a huge impact on my life!!! Sometimes we want big, splashy, and immediate results. But I’m seeing a canyon of faith being deeply cut … one day … after another … after another. One of my favorite Christian book titles ever was, “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.” It works!!!

When I pressed Mary Louise about what I was formerly most disappointed in, she said, other people. “You set high standards for what needed to be done, and you got angry when people didn’t live up to your expectations.” Ouch. But what about now? Yes, people can still disappoint me, but I don’t hurt for me (because my worth is measured in God’s eyes and not in my accomplishments that they are either helping or slowing) … rather, I hurt for them. God has peace and love and blessing, and people I love keep turning the other way.

I’m not disappointed in anything in my current God-centered life.

But I am constantly and increasing disappointed that people aren’t discovering personally this gift that can be for them too.