Missed it?
Did you see it or did you miss it? I missed it. The best ever free light show in London happened last weekend – the Northern lights made an excursion to the South. I’m told that it was hugely exciting to see them. Harrumph! I didn’t.
How do you handle disappointment? This matters because life brings disappointments of the small kind (like missing the Northern lights) and the huge kind (like when the future you hoped for is lost and you need to find a new one).
I am grateful not only that the Bible is real about the brokenness of this world but that we are given a way forward. We aren’t just told to suck it up. Instead, the Lord gives us a promise, “Those who hope in me will not be disappointed” (Isaiah 49:23)
In case we missed it, Paul repeats it, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed” (Romans 10:11)
We need this invitation to hope in God. In 2023, research done by the Prince’s Trust revealed that almost half of young people are hopeless about the future as they watch the storm clouds gathering caused by climate change and political instability.
The Lord says to us, ”Those who hope in me will not be disappointed”.
To be honest I’ve had words with God about that verse because at times, grief tasted like bitter disappointment. But then I remember the verses we had at our wedding, “Hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us” (Romans 5:5).
Here is why we are not disappointed – because God pours out (not a little drizzle but a Niagara scale waterfall) of His tender, faithful love for us by His Holy Spirit. I hear the Father’s voice calling me beloved and see a glimpse of the Father’s face, full of hope over me and my future. He is not bound by disappointment and when I know his love, neither am I. Hope rises because even the worst can be turned to good. Hope rises because nothing is impossible with him. Hope rises because he has stored up an eternity of joy ahead and the heavenly light show is going to far surpass the Northern lights!
God says, “Put your hope in me - you will not be disappointed!”
