Unfulfilled Desires
Jesus Christ had desires and wishes here on earth which—although they were good and right—were not fulfilled. For example, he had to say about Jerusalem, “How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34).
When He was lonely and forsaken, He lamented, “I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none” (Ps. 69:20).
Moreover, during His public ministry, He longed to see fruits of His labour. Yet in the book of Isaiah He pro- phetically says, “I have laboured in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity” (Isa. 49:4).
Against this background, it’s all the more remarkable that the Lord praised the Father for His wisdom precisely at the time of His rejection, when—humanly speaking— He could have been discouraged. Without dissatisfaction in His heart, He said with gentleness, “Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will” (Matt. 11:26).
How do you deal with disappointments that suddenly come your way? How do you react when your desires or plans are suddenly thwarted? Sometimes God allows moments when some of our projects can no longer be accomplished.
Maybe you wanted to go on a trip that couldn’t happen, or attend an event you were looking forward to that had to be cancelled. How do you deal with this? Can you also accept such situations with meekness from the hand of God and say ‘yes, Father’ without bitterness? The prophet
Amos once said, “Does disaster come to a city, unless the LORD has done it?” (Amos 3:6). God doesn’t make mis- takes, even if we do not always understand Him. His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (see Isa .55:9).
When young Samuel announced to old Eli the judgment of God on the latter’s house, Eli’s response was, “It is the LORD. Let him do what seems good to him” (1 Sam. 3:18). David said with the same devotion in another situation, “behold, here I am, let him do to me what seems good to him” (2 Sam 15:26).
Let’s accept disappointment with meekness knowing that the Lord is in control!
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