Healing From DisappointmentChikamu

My mom got glasses for the first time in elementary school. She was moving through a new world as her parents drove her home. Large trees lined the streets in her neighborhood. As they pulled into the driveway in front of the house, she exclaimed, "The trees—they have leaves!" Until this point, her vision had been so weak that she'd been unable to discern the difference between the tree and its leaves. Eyeglasses enabled her to move from distorted to clear vision.

In the same way that near-sightedness distorted my mom's vision, disappointment can distort how we see the world. If you've been let down, betrayed, or disappointed, you know how hard it can be to see others without a tainted perspective. If you were cheated on while dating or married, you may have a hard time trusting that gender again. If you were hurt or abused in a church context, you may have a hard time listening to or following a leader like that again.

The Apostle Paul spoke honestly about his sufferings and pain in his writings. In 2 Corinthians 11, he lists imprisonments, beatings, bites from poisonous snakes, shipwrecks, and countless dangers. Paul echoes the words of Jesus, who told his followers, "In this world, you will have trouble." We will suffer if we are in Christ and follow Christ's plans for our lives.

However, in Romans 8, Paul clarifies that we don't have to see our suffering through the lens of disappointment. He states that our suffering does not compare with the glory we will experience one day. Paul challenges us to choose our perspective. Sure, disappointment distorts our perspective, but meditating on God's glory and promises can clarify our point of view. Holding onto hope changes the way we see everything.

We must remember the difference between idealism, optimism, and hope. Hope is not the same as idealism. Idealism is a positive perspective based upon naivete. Idealism is natural for younger or inexperienced people, so idealism often gives way to cynicism when experience and age compound.

Hope is also different from optimism. Optimism is a positive perspective based on denial. To stay positive despite growing evidence to the contrary, you often have to deny or ignore available knowledge. A positive attitude is great, but not if you pretend to maintain it.

Hope is very different. As I mentioned on day one, hope is a confident expectation in Christ in the face of reality. Years ago, Rob Moll told me that "our hope, as believers in the resurrection of Jesus, doesn't deny reality - our hope defies reality."

As I listened to Rob share about how he stayed hopeful even as he reported on leadership scandals in local churches, I concluded that hope doesn't change your experience; it changes your perspective of your experience. Hope didn't undo the events Rob was learning about and reporting on as a journalist. Rob's hope changed his perspective on his experience, enabling him to continue to see the power and character of God even as he spent countless hours focused on the disappointing and destructive actions of those acting in His name.

According to Jesus, in this world, we will have trouble. We will suffer and watch others suffer, too. It will be brutal. But we can see our adversity through God's perspective, glory, and faithfulness.

Tomorrow, I look forward to sharing some surprising discoveries I made when I studied an often-overlooked section of Romans 8 about nature. You need to hear what I learned!