DISAPPOINTMENT OR DECISION
Many of you know that I
was very passionate about the midterm election in 2022. Well, it turned out
that except in the case of a few judges, I was not with the majority on my
voting. And every issue I voted down, the majority voted to pass through. So,
what do I do? Pout? Get mad? Give up? Well maybe a little pouting, and some
disappointment, but I definitely won’t give up. I truly believe God has this
handled. So many times I’ve seen that God’s ultimate plan was, and still is
much more far-reaching than my eyes could see. So, I trust and let Him do His
job, and I get busy with His next assignment for me.
I’m getting better at
being able to move ahead past disappointments. I can’t let discouragement get a
toe-hold. It’s not healthy for my body or my soul.
God says: “My
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your
ways my ways, saith the Lord” (Is. 55:8). Sometimes God lets us know His
thoughts and His ways before a thing happens, but sometimes we don’t catch the
understanding until a time afterward. It’s necessary to rely totally on faith
and trust in Him. And He promises us that He always has our best in mind.
I learned a long time ago that the loss of
anything or anyone requires a period of grieving, even if it is a very short
time, we have to take an honest look at the loss and deal with it.
Grieving is a universal
phenomenon. There’s plenty of studies on sorrow and grief, but there’s still
much to be learned about how it works, how long it takes, and the effects it
has. The one thing we do know is that it’s a process and it varies with situations
and people.
We can see from the Bible
different examples of the grieving process. Signs included tearing one’s robe, demonstrative
weeping, putting dust and ashes into their hair, and/or shaving their hair or their
beard. Other indications of sorrow included wearing black clothing, removing
all jewelry, neglecting personal hygiene, and/or wearing sackcloth. Sackcloth
was made of goat or camel hair and was coarse and very uncomfortable.
The idea was to mourn life itself.
These were things that
exhibited in ancient times, but the grieving process hasn’t really changed much
over the years. Just one example I can think of is female friends who’ve done
something to change the style or color of their hair after a divorce. I don’t
know if it’s even a conscious decision or just part of the inward, inherent
grief reaction. Many get depressed, angry or just want to isolate
themselves from everyone, when they’ve lost something or someone.
In the Bible, the days of
mourning varied. In the case of Jacob, it was 70 days (Gen. 50:3). In
Saul’s case, only seven days (1 Sam. 31:13). In Moses’ time, the official
period of grief was 30 days.
When Moses died, and the
allowable 30 days was over, God told Joshua it was time for him to get up and
get going. I think that a lot of times we need someone with insight to help us
get going too, to wake us up out of our grief and get us to move on before the
sorrow destroys us or makes us morose.
I know I needed a push
when my dog Spike passed away. I was so sad I couldn’t see getting a new dog
and had convinced myself that I couldn’t get one because of the cat. My friend
Miki kept pestering me with pictures of rescue dogs that needed homes, and I
kept pushing the idea away. Then my best friend Jane rescued a dog from
the alley. We made two failed attempts at giving him away and finally got the
message: “Keep the dog!” My time of grief was supposed to be over, and God was
working through insightful people and a little lost dog, forcing me to move on.
When God pushed Joshua, it
was a new thing for him. Moses was gone, and now he had the responsibility to
lead God’s people. I’m sure it was a little intimidating. Any time we’re forced
to embrace something new, after losing something or someone we loved, it’s
hard. But we don’t have to do it alone. God told Joshua: “Be strong and of a
good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is
with thee whithersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1:9).
When we lose our loved
ones, or if we lose our homes, our jobs, or anything else, it’s okay to grieve
those things. It’s good to recognize and face the loss head-on, then
realize the loss has opened up an opportunity to seek and trust the Lord for
what will be next.
In Isaiah 48:6 God
promises He will show us new things, hidden things that we’ve never known
before. “I
have shown thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst
not know them.”
“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert” (Isa. 43:19). God
will show us that there’s more good to come, so I’m ready and willing to
believe and see.
Love, Carolyn
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