Relationship Status: SingleSample

Disappointments:

For everything, there is a time and season under the face of the sun. When the time is right, things come forth, and you can see the magnificence of what has remained dormant over the years. No better place on earth captures this truth as clearly as the Namib desert in Southern Africa. It is a dry place with massive dunes and unbearably high temperatures so you would think that life could not exist there. But once a year, floodwaters flow into certain areas of the Namib desert, refreshing everything in the path. Once the water soaks into the ground, seeds that have lain dormant, some for over 30 years, burst into life, and soon these areas are filled with a colorful display of wildflowers in the most unusual place, an arid desert.

Similarly, you might not see the idea of meeting a life partner as a possibility if you have suffered many disappointing relationships. It’s like being in a desert—all you see are mirages in the wilderness. If you dare to hope again, you risk yet another disappointment. I've found myself in a similar situation a few times. I gave up and concluded that there were no good men out there, and if there were, they were already taken. I couldn't see beyond the discouragement that had enveloped me, and the last thing I wanted to hear was, "Don't worry about it because God has someone even better for you."

For a while, I lost my hope of finding love amid so much disappointment. Perhaps you, too, may have encountered many disappointing situations. Often, we experience disappointments due to misplaced expectations. We place our hope in a person, a particular year, event, circumstance, or place that doesn't materialize into what we would have wanted. But the Bible teaches us to put our hope in the Lord, not in people or circumstances.

What should we do with the disappointments we carry? Pray, pour your heart out to God, and allow Him to speak into your situation as King David did in the book of Psalms. You can also talk to someone about it, preferably someone who has godly counsel to point you towards life beyond that disappointment. Perhaps you may need to forgive yourself or others to overcome that disappointment. Whatever you do, don't live in that disappointment because God can work all things for your good.