Hope Does Not Disappoint.

“The disappointments of life are simply the hidden appointments of love.” C.A. Fox

I’ve thought about this quote for a few days now. It keeps coming back up nudging me to dig a little deeper. So, I started doing a word study on “disappoint” and it led me to Romans 5:5,
“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

The word disappoint in Greek is kataischyno. It means “to dishonor. To disgrace. To shame. To make ashamed, or to be put to shame who suffers a repulse, or whom some hope has deceived.”

Right away I wanted to sub these words for the word disappoint in Romans 5:5.

So, I can say hope does not dishonor.
Hope does not disgrace.
And I can take this further to the One I put my hope in and say God does not dishonor.
God does not shame.
God does not disappoint.

Yet, if you have been disappointed, I ask that you hold on to this. White knuckle it if you have to because God is the only one, we can go to, put ALL our hope in and He will never fail us. We have a miracle working, mountain moving, maker of the stars, faithful kind of Father! One who died on a cross so we could know life and life abundantly. How could I not trust this one who loved me so radically that He voluntarily left heaven to come as a vulnerable babe, to die a sinners death, for my sake? I hope we never make light of who God truly is, especially in the midst of disappointment.

This isn’t to say we will never be disappointed; we are human and I’m pretty sure it comes as a part of this package deal – but, when I reach that point, I have to stop myself and ask, am I disappointed in God, or my own expectations?

Personally, I’ve been disappointed with my own expectations time and time again and have tried to put those on God, but He never promised
me my way. Yet He did promise me, in Jeremiah 29:11,“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.” and Hebrews 10:23, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful,” to name a few.

Thinking more of my disappointments in life I came to this place of seeing each one of them with a new perspective.

My divorce was an appointment for love.
The greatest appointment of my life honestly. My greatest pain was my greatest
invitation to know God, to let the maker of my heart heal it with His own two
hands… then put that very heart back in me. I think of how it use to hurt to breath and somehow as I kept trying to grasp for air…
Catching air was an appointment for love.
Waking up was an appointment for love.
Healing was an appointment for love.

The car accident I was in at thirty-two, which almost took my sight, was an appointment for love.

Being single, yet again, was an appointment for love.

Going back to school was an appointment for love.

Losing my job was an appointment for love.

I can look back over my life and see appointment on top of appointment.

Anywhere you are today, and any place there is the slightest disappointment or gravest disappointment… it is a place for God to come in. To be present in.

Have faith and watch what He will do.

May the God of hope fill you with
all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may
abound in hope.
Romans 15:13

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Melinda Suzanne

Melinda is a woman who loves Jesus. She is passionate about counseling and her prayer is to offer moments of hope and help guide those who are wondering in the desert to find streams of living water right where they are. Isaiah 61 promises us that there will be "the oil of joy instead of mourning". Exodus 3:17 says, "I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt...to a land flowing with milk and honey." Melinda's hope is that your feet get stuck in a stream, and you are covered in heaven's honey while visiting this site. She is currently in school pursuing a psychology degree. She has a desire to encourage women and help couples seek righteousness in marriage. Her prayer is that each heart here is touched by the love of Jesus Christ. This blog is a place for her to be authentic and unabandoned in her pursuit of Christ in hopes that her experiences reach others who are in similar situations and lead them closer to God in that space.

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