August 14

Ezra 10:1-Nehemiah 1:11
Psalm 97:1-6
Proverbs 20:4-6
Romans 8:1-25

It’s OK to Feel It
When I heard these words, I sat down and wept.
—Nehemiah 1:4

Why is it necessary to know how to cope with disappointment? Because if it is allowed to reverberate in our hearts, however much we pretend with our minds that we do not care, our true feelings will prevent us from moving upward toward the peaks of God “with all four feet.” Our back feet will not track where our front feet have been positioned, and thus we will miss our step on the steep slopes that lead us upward to closer fellowship with God.

The first thing we should learn about disappointment is this—it’s OK to feel it. The worst possible thing we can do with any problem that arises in our lives is to refuse to face it and feel it. Yet this is a typical response made by many Christians to life’s problems.

I once counseled a young, unmarried woman who had gone through some bitter disappointments both in her childhood and in her adolescent years. Such was the pain these disappointments brought that the only way she could cope with them was to turn her mind to something else. She toyed with the idea of drink, sensual pleasures, and several other things, but because she possessed a deep commitment to Christ, she decided to enroll in a Bible correspondence course. As we talked, it became clear to me that in doing this, her primary goal was not to learn more about Scripture but to relieve the pain of disappointment that was reverberating in her heart. Bible study became a way to escape from her problems rather than what it should have been—a way to confront them.

Prayer
Father, help me to see that You have made me in such a way that I function best when I go through problems rather than around them. Show me that maturity means being in charge of my feelings, not my feelings being in charge of me. Amen.

Further Study
Jnh 1-4; Pr 16:32; Eccl 7:9
Why was Jonah disappointed?
How did demandingness come into it?

Every Day with Jesus Daily Bible – August 14
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