Life can disappoint
- Kyle Snyder: Live on Purpose
- February 26, 2018
- 1572
It seems to me that there are things I think I should be entitled to: a raise after a year of hard work, a thank you after putting off what I want to do in order to help someone else, a shot at the brass ring after standing in line and paying my dues, a favor after working so hard on somebody else’s behalf, and maybe, just maybe a little recognition after pouring my heart and soul into something for a long time.
However, sometimes it seems like I get denied what I feel I am due. I’m not talking about feeling entitled as a way of life. Those people will never get anywhere in life, but what I am talking about is when we work hard and play by the rules and still get nowhere in the end. Talk about a heartache.
What a letdown when we don’t get what we are due. I tend to get mad and let it play over and over in my mind, like an old, broken record. That doesn’t change a thing because the injustice is still being carried out, and I get more angry just thinking about it. If I can, I try to get someone who I think has some pull to see my side. Sometimes that works; other times it doesn’t.
Life is unfair, but it is so hard to accept. When we don’t get treated fairly at work, home, in business, at church or other places, we can ask, “Where is God in the matter? Where is people’s sense of fairness and moral compass?”
The part of it I think is funny is when people try to make themselves look good be saying, “Life isn’t always fair,” and they don’t even know what happened in the first place. They just want to be involved, so they make comments but have no idea what they our talking about. Not helpful at all.
I’m going to say what most people are probably thinking when people say life isn’t always fair. “Who asked you?” We get just as mad at them because we often think they aren’t really listening to us, or the most horrible thing happens: We know they are right, but we are denied the right to whine.
I hate when people tell me life isn’t fair because I don’t want to hear it, but it is good to hear. It keeps us grounded; it also keeps us in reality. It is far too easy to think when life doesn’t treat us fair that we’re all alone with no one who can relate, but that is a lie.
We see people who we think life has treated great and given them whatever they want, but it’s really not so. Life is hard for everyone. Just some people handle it better than others, or they hide it better. The richest person in the world knows that life is not fair. It doesn’t matter who we are or how much money we have.
The first time I took my driver’s test it was not fun. I failed both the maneuverability and the driving part. I was so disappointed with myself. I wondered, “Will I ever be able to drive?” I had a lot of well-meaning people try to talk me out of driving before I took me test. Maybe they were right and I was only kidding myself. I couldn’t really drive.
I told my mom what I was thinking, and boy did I get an ear full. She reminded me of all the hard work I put into it, how bad I wanted it, and she knew I could do it. She also told me to stop listening to every voice who tells me I can’t do it. She was right, so we kept on trying to work on it. I took the test again, and I passed the maneuverability but not the driving part. We kept on plugging away until on the third time I finally got my license.
Isn’t that just like life? When something doesn’t go our way, we think the worst. Like Henny Penny we think the sky is falling. We may think we are just a loser, that we are never meant to get ahead. We have to lose so others may win and so on.
None of it is true. We just let our mind run wild and our emotions take over. However, if we just take our time and think, even remove ourselves from the situation, we will be able to see things more objectively. In the heat of the moment we need to be careful we don’t make the wrong choice. If we can come back to it, we will be better off.
In times of great disappointment, lean on Jesus. Know that he is the only way out of your disappointment. No, he might not work it out the way you see fit, but he will work it out in his own way and in his own timing.
Think about how many times God told someone he is with them. When Joshua was installed as the leader of Israel, the Lord told him that he is with him (Joshua 1:9). King David said the Lord is our shepherd (Psalm 23:1). Jesus told the disciples to make more disciples and he will be with them to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).
Many more times God says in his word that he will be with us. It is God we need to put our hope in, not men. Just ask him for help in your disappointment and trust that he knows what he is doing. In the end, if we give our disappointments to God and not take them upon ourselves, life will go a whole lot better for us.