New Appointments

“Don’t miss new appointments looking at disappointments.”

Loren Thornburg

Disappointment is something we would all love to avoid and understandably so. The effects of disappointment can cause much stress. Unfortunately, life is full of disappointments. This word originated with a literal meaning of removal from office. What one was once appointed to has been taken away. You can see how this easily came to its current meaning of a feeling of dissatisfaction when our hopes and dreams fail to manifest. The thing we hoped we would be appointed to has been removed from our reality. What I find now in this word is “appointment” and the opportunity for a new appointment. They say, ‘when one door closes another door opens.’ Yet, how can I see the open door when I am still looking at the door that closed and consumed by my disappointment over it. I am not saying we shouldn’t be disappointed. Disappointment is a natural response to things that don't turn out as we hoped they would. However, don’t forget to keep looking for the new appointment that comes when one has been removed. Don’t stop with that which has been removed, but look for what is and what’s coming.

“So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace.”

2 Corinthians 4:16 Message

You’re not alone. It’s a common thing to walk through hard times. It’s part of the process of life and of following Jesus. Yet, for us following Jesus there is something bigger going on. We see disappointment but He sees opportunity to change us on the inside. Not a day, not a situation, not a thing goes by where His grace is not unfolding on us and through us. The hard part is that you can’t always see it. We have to trust that it’s happening because it’s true. So join with Paul in his encouragement to the Corinthians to not give up because we know that with every disappointment we face God is at work unfolding a new appointment for us, doing a work of grace in us and making us more like Him. He is making new life in us. That’s why we are able to not give up and that’s how we can trust Him for what is when we walk through the loss of what’s not.