Disappointment expected...

After having a baby, I realized what true exhaustion was. After taking care of that baby alone, exhaustion increased to a whole new level. After taking care of that baby alone, while trying to handle life.....frankly....it takes an act of God to get me through a day. Being tired is getting old!
That's not at all what this post is about, but sometimes a chick just needs to vent.
Anyway...
We have all been disappointed at some point or another. Either by a person, a situation, (balancing our checkbooks...LOL), but we have all been there. I think the hardest thing to work through when dealing with disappointment from a person, is the impact it has on every aspect of you, your day, your attitude...everything.
I've been disappointed a lot lately, by a multitude of things and people. So why keep going? Why keep trying? The cliche answer is, "for my kids," "for my family." All great answers but sometimes ya just need more. I was reading this morning and came across an article about dealing the disappointment and our response to it. The basic idea of the article was saying, "What now Lord?" instead of saying, "Why God?" I thought this was interesting. It's easier said than done. Disappointment automatically brings the inevitable question of, "why?" Why did he say that? Why didn't he follow through? Why did she talk about me? Why? Why? Why? Why?
At first glance of this article I agreed, okay okay, good point and that's great. But as the day progressed and more disappointment was heaped on top of more disappointment, this idea started to resonate. Not why is this happening to me? I have been a good person and I don't deserve this. Notice anything in those sentences? There's a lot of "I's". I think the point of making the transition between Why God and What now God is taking the focus off of our troubles and woes and placing the focus on Him. Again, this is easier said than done and it certainly sounds like a Sunday sermon lesson, I get it! BUT, hear me out.
When you are faced with disappointment today and tomorrow, instead of asking why (okay, let's be real here, instead of cursing and THEN asking why), ask what now. I think you'll be fairly surprised at how quickly you change.
Time for a real life example. As a single momma, I had a part time job to pay some bills. It was great, they were great, I was doing well and they liked me. There were some MAJOR changes in the company and my position was "altered." That's a fancy way of saying they made a mistake when hiring a part time person and really needed a full time person, so now they are trying to figure out how to CYA! When they called and told me that my job had been altered, I was NOT happy. In fact, I was pissed. I had made plans, budgeted, worked out childcare, bought the clothes....all for nothing. DISAPPOINTED MUCH! I asked why a lot!!! But today, as I sat in front of the computer trying to piece together what the next chapter in my life was going to look like, I realized how asking why was NOT helping. I have no answers, but I know that when I stopped asking why and started asking what now, it allowed me to start seeing what could be.
What about you? When your spouse does something, stupid, irresponsible, hurtful..are you asking why or what now Lord? When your kids disappoint you..are you asking why or what now Lord? When you loose a job...are you asking why or what now Lord? When everyone seems to be doing well and you feel like you are being left in the dust...are you asking why or what now Lord?
I get it. This is a hard thing to do, but aren't we promised that He will work things together for our good? Aren't we told to not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself? Isn't it commanded of us to have faith like a child? No matter how painful or heartbreaking the disappointment might be, God's answer to our question, "What now Lord?" is ALWAYS, "Trust me, trust me."
So really the question comes down to that, will you trust Him through the disappointments??