Finding God In The Midst of Your Disappointment

How many of us have been frustrated and disappointed as a result of the activities or inactivity of other people? I think that we have all depended upon other people and have been disappointed at one time or another throughout our lives. For instance, how many of us have depended upon someone to provide us a ride to an important appointment and the person upon whom we depended arrives late or not at all?

I have learned that the level of frustration or disappointment that we experience is equal to our level of expectation placed on the person upon whom we are depending. In other words the more that we expect from individuals, the higher our level of frustration and disappointment becomes when they do not meet our expectations.

I think that we are just being human when we feel this disappointment or frustration. However, we should not succumb to or be ruled by these feelings. Depending upon the severity of the frustration, I think that it is okay to be bummed out for a while. But while we are being bummed out we should go to God in prayer and ask Him to help us deal with this situation that causes our frustration in a way that pleases Him.

Yep, that's right, we should acknowledge the fact that God is right in the middle of our situation. I am reminded of a prayer that I learned a number of years back while attending Unity Church of Christianity. It is called:

"The Prayer for Protection”

The Light of God Surrounds Me
The Love of God Enfolds Me
The Power of God Protects Me and
The Presence of God Watches over Me
Wherever I Am, God Is….
….And All Is Well.....Amen!

I have used this prayer many times when I have been in a deep, dark, funk. After repeating it a few times and meditating upon its words, this prayer almost always calms me down. It does so by reminding me that no matter where I am physically or psychologically, God's love surrounds me, protects me and watches over me. While this prayer does not change the facts of what has happened it does change how I look at what has happened.

Now, since we have acknowledged God’s presence in the midst of our problem and have asked Him to help us to deal with the situation; we wait for His guidance. Again, it is important to note that we should not respond to the problem emotionally. The cool thing is that God always responds to those who call upon Him in faith. Like the old folks say “He may not respond just when we want Him to, but He always responds right on time”. Just be patient and trust that He has our better good in mind.

NOW, when we respond to whatever it is that is causing our frustration we are responding from a position of spiritual calm and power. It may take a few minutes, hours, days or weeks for us to find this calm. That is okay because we will know when we find it.

Please note what we have just done. We have asked God into our lives to help us deal with a situation that is frustrating us and are waiting to respond to this situation until we have found God's peace and direction. Try it in any situation, if you have not already.

Peace,

Al