Prayers for Evangelical Believers:
Personal Devotions
In Disappointment
by Ed Vasicek

Lord, this life has no shortage of letdowns. Each letdown brings back the heartache of previous ones. It is an all-too-familiar feeling. But then again, Lord, you know all about it. You know the sting of disappointment not only because you are the sovereign God who knows all, but also through your Son who took upon himself mortal flesh.

Our Savior understood what it was like to be despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He knew the feeling of abandonment: those he had appointed as apostles fled at his arrest. He knew the bitter pain of betrayal as he told Judas, "What you do, do quickly." He came to his own, but those who were his own did not receive him. Even his own family rejected him and thought him insane (Mark 3:21).  He healed ten lepers, but only one returned to give thanks.

Abba, Father, disappointment is an integral part of life. We seem to have a distant memory of Eden, when things were right and life was fulfilling. We have eternity in our hearts, so we can imagine what heaven will not be: tears, heartache, betrayal, letdown, conflict, misunderstanding, the frustration of failure or being less than best. Agreements will not fall through up there, nor will dreams be dashed. Others will no longer disappoint us, nor will we disappoint others.

But, Sovereign Lord, Eden is past and heaven is future. We need your comfort now. We need your shoulder to cry on, your ear to hear our cries, your compassion to assure us of your love. You are the God who ministers to the letdown, the broken-hearted, the torn-up inside. Our brokenness does not take you by surprise. You have held the hand of millions who have gone through similar or worse situations. It wasn't easy for them, and it is not easy for me.  Get me through the desert of disappointment. Send an oasis time, and then nudge me forward until I reach the end of the desert and can once again drink at the joyful spring. I pray in the matchless, compassionate name of Jesus, Amen.