Disappointed? Expect Large Things

Have you ever been disappointed? I would venture to say that most of us have at one time or another.

Did you know that we can benefit from the pain of disappointment? Unfortunately, many of us wallow it.

This is a first for me: first web site, first blog, first posting. All these firsts were born from disappointment.

I had prayed and labored long to return to Kenya on a mission trip in August 2018. In the end, God said no.

Invitation to Kenyan Mission Trip

April 20, 2016, was a normal workday for me at a Christian book publisher. We’re such a small team that we all wear many hats. Among the things I do, I talk to people, many of them. On that particular day, a lady by the name of Anita called about ordering some Bibles to take to Africa. She leads the Mara Vision Outreach ministry, and they provide pastors and teachers for the Masaai and Samburu tribes in Kenya.

She invited me to participate in the mission trip that was planned for that August. I promptly, and as graciously as possible, declined the opportunity because it didn’t make sense. Such a trip was costly. Besides, I was the primary caregiver for my mother. Why would God want me to leave her?

God’s Calling

However, a dear friend who is more like a sister asked, “Did you talk to God about that?” So I did.

The experience was a combination of Jeremiah 29:11: “I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord,” and Ephesians 3:20: “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think.”

Living in a Zoo

God opened one door after another, working a string of miracles. My mother’s care was completely taken care of through volunteers and an extra grant from her local Commission on Aging. The biggest miracle of all was that He paid for the trip. A stranger donated $4,500 so I could make the excursion.

The excursion was incredible. Of the sixteen days I was gone, nine of them were in the African bush. Our camp was just across the Talek River from the Maasai Mara Game Reserve. It was like living in a zoo for those nine days. As a birder, I added more than ninety birds to my life list, including the lilac-breasted roller. It’s about the size of an American crow.

God Called in Childhood

As I child, I loved mission stories that came from Africa. Accounts of David Livingston’s and Robert Moffat’s adventures captured my attention like no other place in the world, not Australia, not Argentina, not Austria—only Africa. As I grew, I wanted to be a missionary to Africa. By the time I graduated into adulthood that calling had been tucked into a back pocket in my brain. I didn’t think about it again until I was on the Mara. Just a few days into the trip those dreams came to life, and I realized that I was in the very land of my childhood dreams.

Utter Disappointment When God Said “No”

Another mission trip with Mara Vision Outreach was scheduled for August 2018. Oh, how I wanted to return to the amazing land to participate in more mission work. I labored hard to raise the funds to go. Other doors opened as well. In the end, God said, “No, it’s not time for you to return yet.” I was bitterly disappointed. I wanted to know why, and in time God showed me, for the disappointment drove me to the Scriptures.

In my study on disappointment, I found great comfort in the Scriptures. As I turned the pages of the Bible, I found verse after verse of hope. Those verses let me to a book entitled The Desire of Ages* by E. G. White, page 668, where I discovered these words:

He is well pleased when they make the very highest demands upon Him, that they may glorify His name. They may expect large things if they have faith in His promises.

I asked myself the question, “How are we in any position to make demands upon God?” So being the word lover that I am, I looked up its meaning. In the author’s day, the word also meant “petitions.” So when we put the very highest petitions before God, He is very pleased. In so doing, we may “expect large things.” Hence, the title of this blog leapt off the page.

God’s Reasons to Keep Me Home

I still don’t know all of God’s reasons, but it started just three days after I was supposed to leave. I became extremely ill from a massive infection. If that had happened in Africa, they would have buried me over there.

Another reason was my mother. Nearly a year after I went to Africa, God opened doors to place her in a nursing home. He even selected the facility. In the fall of 2018, some potentially dicey legal issues arose over her care. If I had gone to Africa, the situation would have been much worse. In the end, everything was fine, and I was exonerated. Also, I didn’t know I would have less than five months with my mother. She passed to her rest on January 10, 2019.

Conclusion

So I hope and pray that you will go exploring with me as we discover the purpose and benefits of disappointment, as well as other emotions and passions that can lead to hope if we let them. We can either soar with the birds or wallow in the pit. I choose to soar with the birds. What about you?

*I will receive a commission from any purchase made from Family Home Christian Books using this link or the one above.