Breathe Again: A 7-Day PlanSýnishorn

Does your life pale in comparison to how you dreamed it? Are you crushed by painful circumstances? You’re not alone. Unmet expectations are tough to deal with, often leaving us with confusing and sometimes debilitating disappointment. 

Disappointment is an appropriate response for any kind of pain, but being encased in it isn’t. Left to linger, it slowly kills our hope. We’re living but not fully alive and barely moving forward. No matter what challenge we face, God’s good plans for us never change. If we sit still in disappointment for too long, we may end up forfeiting what He has in store. 

Genesis 11 tells of Abraham’s father, Terah, a man who stopped short on his dream. After burying a son, Terah and his family left their home in Ur to start a new life in Canaan. But something unexpected happened; he never made it to his destination. Instead, he lost sight of his dream, settled, and eventually died in Harran, a city along the way. Terah never stepped foot in Canaan’s soil, the land that became significant for his descendants. 

Why did he stop short? We’ll never know, but I wonder if lingering emotional battles sapped him of the strength to continue. 

From my own experience of losing a child, I understand that loss has the power to steal our good expectations from life like none other. Whether it’s the loss of a relationship, a marriage, or a job, it snatches our breath away. Harran became Terah’s dead end as he settled for the lesser place when the better place was up ahead. 

The lies of disappointment say our struggle is our end. “The voice we listen to in pain will determine our destination.” God’s voice will always lead us forward. 

Today, ask yourself if you’ve settled for less than God’s best because you’re afraid to expect better. The Holy Spirit can help you release disappointment so you can become fully alive in Him, dreaming and breathing again.