Devotional: My Disappointments are God's Appointments

My Disappointments are God's Appointments

by Marsha Iddings

2 Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Genesis 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

I was feeling a little discouraged and disappointed because I was down sick again for the third time in five weeks. I had all these plans of what I was going to accomplish during the school Christmas break, but I wasn't feeling like doing a whole lot anything. As I was sitting on my pity pot, I began to think about recent devotionals I had written on being a good steward of the circumstances I find myself in, be they good or bad and the thought popped into my head that my disappointments and God's appointments. I don't know if I had heard this somewhere else in the past or if it is a new idea that came to me, but it makes sense. In past devotionals I've written how that the good and the bad comes from God's hand. Satan may have a hand in it, but only in so far as God gives him leash. So, as I think of my disappointments, they really are God's appointments.

Think of the Apostle Paul. He had a thorn in the flesh that tormented him and he prayed three times asking God to remove it. God chose not too, but instead promised that His grace would be sufficient and His strength would be made perfect in Paul's weakness. God used Paul in a mighty way in spite of his physical ailment. Paul's disappointment was God's appointment.

Think of Joseph, tossed into the pit and then sold by his brothers to slave traders, taken to a foreign country and made to serve Potiphar there. Then to top it all off he was falsely accused and thrown into prison. Eventually, God intervened and he became second in command in the whole land of Egypt and was able to save his family from starvation. Joseph's disappointments were God's appointments.

What circumstance do you find yourself in today? Is it disappointing to you? God knows all about it. God has engineered the circumstances and your disappointment is God's appointment. God can and will use your disappointment for good in some way either in your own life or in the lives of others around you. Just watch and wait for Him to work.