Dealing with disappointment

Happy late Thanksgiving everybody!  I hope you ate enough turkey.

Most of you probably know, but I have been training for a marathon which I was scheduled to run yesterday.  I spent a lot of time and effort training for this thing and I felt like things were going really well for me the whole time I was training.  Everything was perfect…until Sunday night.

On Sunday night, I started hurting in my left foot.  It continued on Monday, but on Tuesday, I felt OK until the end of the day.  That night, before going to bed, my knee started hurting in a very odd place.  When I woke up Wednesday, one day before the race, it was hard to walk, much less run.  I tried to run outside and I could only go to the end of the driveway.  I got in touch with a doctor that would see me and he said that I have either a stress fracture in my knee, tendonitis, or a torn meniscus.  I tried to convince him that I would be fine the next morning if he would give me a shot in my knee to ease the pain, but he recommended that I rest and train for another race.  

I then decided that I would take some pain medicine and travel to Atlanta to run the race anyway.  It takes 3 hours to get there from where we grew up, so we started down the road in crazy traffic.  We stopped to eat and my stomach hurt so much from the pain medicine I had taken that I could not eat.  At that, I decided this was not going to work out.  I didn’t want to give up.  Everything within me thought I could do it.  My body was saying, in more than one way, “no” while my mind and my heart were saying, “yes.”  

Disappointment.  How can we deal with disappointment?  My encouragement has come from the story of David with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11-12).  David committed sin with Bathsheba by having sex with her even though she was married to another man.  She became pregnant and gave birth to a son.  God told David that the son would die as a result of David’s sin with Bathsheba.  David prayed and prayed and tried all that he could to save his son.  The son got very sick and David refused to eat.  He slept on the floor.  He wouldn’t change his clothes.  He did nothing to satisfy himself while his son was sick.  In the end, his son died.  Afterward, David got up from the floor where he had been praying and sleeping, took a bath, put on the best things he owned, and began to worship God.  He was disappointed, but it didn’t stop him from living with reality.  It didn’t keep him back from his relationship with God.  He didn’t blame God for anything.  He thanked God for all He was in the midst of disappointment.  

I thank God that He gave me the opportunity to train.  It was a great experience and I will run again soon.  I know He brings good out of all things and He is always on our side.  David knew that too.  Life happens and we face disappointment.  But you know what?  God will always be in charge and look out for us.  He is the man.  

Take care of yourselves this weekend, be a part of the Tree Lighting event tonight, and I will be praying for any of you who may be facing disappointment like me.  Rock on!

Adam

Mark 16: That’s what he said

Mark 16: the final chapter in our look at Mark.  I like Mark because he keeps it to the point.  In 16 chapters, he tells the action-packed story of Jesus.  How else could he end it than with the story of Jesus rising from the dead?  
I noticed in this chapter that the story plays out and events happen “just as Jesus said they would happen.”  We can see that people had to BELIEVE in what Jesus said to really get what happened as well.  For example, the disciples weren’t really tuned in that well at the time so they didn’t believe that Jesus could’ve risen from the dead when Mary told them that she had seen Him.  They weren’t dialed in, so Jesus had to show up and get in their grill to make them realize that Mary was telling the truth.  The Great Commission closes the chapter out and we see that the disciples went out and did the things Jesus promised them they would be able to do, “just as He had said.”  
When we believe Jesus for who He says He is and act on what He desires, things happen.  It is a proven method; His way is tried and true.  He knows what’s up.  When we do what He asks us to do, things happen.  The power and passion He displayed are still available to us today.  Do you want some of that?  I know I do.  Jesus has the best in store for us and I pray that reading through the book of Mark has been helpful to you.  

Have an awesome week and I will see you all in December!  Erica and I will be in South Carolina for Thanksgiving.  Gobble, gobble, gobble… 

Mark 15: New way

Verse 38 in chapter 15 stuck out the most to me today.  In chapter 15, we see the events of Jesus’ crucifixion.   In verse 38, we see that Jesus has breathed His last breath and immediately the curtain in the Temple, the place of worship for the people of that day, was torn in two.  This curtain had separated the people from the presence of God.  In their belief system, they offered sacrifices to draw near to God and be obedient to Him.  By this veil being torn in half at Jesus’ death, God was announcing a new way.  God would now be available to people at all times.  The sacrificial system and all that it symbolized would now be useless.  The one true sacrifice, the life of Jesus, had been completed.  All that was (and is still) needed to enter into the presence of God was accomplished through Jesus.  

The passion of Jesus, the love He felt for mankind, led Him to GIVE His life for all people.  He GAVE His life over, no one took it from Him.  He could’ve overpowered anyone He wanted.  Yet, He lived the life He did to provide us the way to enter the presence of God, unhindered.  

Do you feel like you can enter the presence of God?  Do you feel like He will draw close to you?  

Share your thoughts!  Try to say warm.

Adam