Disappointment and Expectations

Have you ever been disappointed by life?
Ever had expectations that you prayed and prayed over that were never met or still aren't being met? Hop on the bus, Gus.
I have yet to meet someone who has not been disappointed by life or expectations that could have easily been met and weren't.
I don't have any grand explanation for it, but I sure wish someone did.
Nearly everytime I think I have my husband, or my son, or my mom, or my daughter figured out, life throws a monkey wrench on the mix and stops the clock. It's so frustrating to navigate through this life without knowing if there is a significant point or resolution in the making.
But, ya see, there is. It's not simple, or by any means logical, but it is easy. The difficulty is actually doing it.
Wanna know what it is?
It's called prayer and petition. It's called patience.
The Bible says, in the book of James that one who prays without faith, is like a wave being tossed about by the wind. He is referring to asking God for wisdom. When we pray, we should alwsy seek God's will in our lives and give him our cares; however, we need also ask for the wisdom and discernment in order to navigate through life more effectively.
Now, I'm not saying prayer will automatically bring you reassurance or peace, but it has a way of bringing us to a better understanding of God's.
If he gave us everything we asked him for because we thought we were ready, we would be no better off than most spoiled children you see in the grocery store whose mother buys the candy for the screaming child just to shut him or her (or both) up.
Is the candy good for them? Surely not.
Is the mother's ability to give in so quickly good for them? Not at all.
Is the word "No" good for them? Yes. Yes, it is.
Would ignoring the children's cries and leaving the store be such a bad thing? No, that's why we have Exedrin.
Would the children learn a lesson? Yes, most possibly, but not if the mother continuously gave in to their cries.

Is anybody out there? Are you catching the drift?
If we give our grocery list and our expectations to God and he says "no" or "wait" we think we've done something wrong and try to make restitution in order to get what we want.
More than likely, that doesn't work. That's probably why most of you single people are still single.
Sometimes God just says "no" or "wait" to teach us to trust him, he knows what's best for us, he knows what's good for us, he wants to teach us something, or maybe he knows (as one of my dear friends told me) we aren't ready yet, we only think we are.
God created us, from the very beginning when the sperm met the egg. He knows our thoughts before we think them, our words before we say them and our actions before we perform them.
I don't know about you, but I think I would want someone like that to watch over me.
The trouble is, I think I know better that God does regarding my needs, wants and expectations.
It's when we think we know better than God does that we end up hurting like the crying child hurts when Mommy ignores his cries and leaves the store without the candy.
Eventually the hurt and anger goes away and is replaced with love, smiles and a greater sence of trust. The child knows his mommy loves him, but the child is self absorbed and self centered; just like us. Just like the child, we cry and wine and pout when God or life for that matter, doesn't meet our expectations, but we soon learn to trust and love God because we learn to discover how much he loves us.

So, don't give up. Keep praying and asking God for wisdom and discernment regarding his will.
He loves you. He knows what's best for you. Sometimes, he is going to say "no" or "wait" and then ignore your begging, pleading and whining, leaving the store without getting you what you cried so hard for. However, he is leaving the store with you. It's up to you whether or not you choose to trust him for who he is, not for what you can get from him.
I wonder what you'll choose. To accept it, trust him and remain faithful or remain angry and eventually become bitter because he didn't give you what you wanted.