Michelle McKinney Hammond - How to Get Past Disappointment: Finding Hope

Michelle McKinney

Hammond

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

Unless otherwise marked, scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Verses marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Verses marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189 USA. All rights reserved.

Verses marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Published in association with the literary agency of Alive Communications, Inc., 7680 Goddard Street, Ste 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80920. www.alivecommunications.com

Cover photoLinden Lasema / stock.xchng

Cover design by Koechel Peterson & Associates, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota

HOW TO GET PAST DISAPPOINTMENT
Copyright 2011 by Michelle McKinney Hammond
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hammond, Michelle McKinney.

How to get past disappointment / Michelle McKinney Hammond.

p. cm.(Matters of the heart series)

ISBN 978-0-7369-3786-3 (pbk.)
1. Christian womenReligious life. 2. DisappointmentReligious aspectsChristianity.
3. Samaritan woman (Biblical figure) I. Title.
BV4527.M4185 2011
248.843dc22

2010029891

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 / BP-NI / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To those who thought they could never love again,
smile again, hope againthink again.
There is hope for your life!
Follow your pain around the bend and look up
truly all things come to pass.

To my dear Harvest House family. Thank you for always making me feel at home and giving me room to grow.

To all of those who have walked with me through the tearsyou know who you are. I couldnt have made it without your prayers and care. I love you high, deep, and wide.

This is for all of those who have made the long walk to the wrong well and found it empty. Turn again and walk toward the sun. A stranger awaits

Hope breaks forth from its prison

like a butterfly stretching its wings to fly.

It shakes off its coat of death

experiencing new life

Rising past disappointment

and all that threatened to keep it bound

It soars to meet its maker

the author and finisher of its faith

and heaven applauds

the victory has been won

W e all relate to thirst. The empty, yawning feeling you have inside that longs to be filledfilled with love, with accomplishment, with satisfaction and fulfillment. And yet so often it seems the very thing we pursue eludes us, teasing and taunting our hearts. Carrots are dangled just before our eyes to make us try, try again, only to be disappointed again and again until we refuse to try any longer or, worse, settle for the in-between.

Yes, somewhere between what we dont have and what we long for is a compromise that bides us over for a little while. But then what we truly want peeks around the corner of our longings to remind us that the dream hasnt been realized. We die a little with every reminder of this painful fact and search for ways to endure in spite of our disappointment in ourselves, in others, and even in God. We bolster our hearts and set our faces forward for the long haul and continue on

We all come with our own special carry-on bag of survival tricks. Some people hide behind hectic schedules. Some engage in endless flirtations to distract from what they truly want. Like a wanna-be singer who hides behind the light show and the dancers onstage hoping we wont notice her tuneless delivery, we camouflage our true feelings. Scores of successful women flaunt their achievements while secretly mourning the lack of love or children in their lives. On the other side of the fence, many women flaunt their homes, husbands, and children while secretly coveting the achievements of women in the business world.

Disappointment is an ancient emotion. Truly there is nothing new under the sun. The Samaritan woman mentioned in John 4 could have been a woman living in our time. Perhaps she wouldnt have met Jesus at a well; it could have been a water cooler instead. The matters of the heart she struggled with are the same issues we deal with today. She can be the perfect study for us in how to refresh our faith and embrace new beginningswhile putting the past in the right perspective. Why not take the time to read her story before delving into this book? This will be a great overview to prepare for our journey together.

We all have pieces of fruit we feel weve been denied. And the serpentthe devil in disguisemakes sure we are frequently reminded of what we lack (or think we lack). Taunting us to agree with him that God is holding out on us. Pushing our attitudes over the edge until we land in a place that takes us further away from the place called Hope. And yet God promises there is hope for our lives. How we find it among the debris of disappointment remains a mystery to many. But rest assured, my dear sister. If God said it, it is so! Hope is only a prayer away!

W hen you look in the mirror who do you see? What does your reflection tell you about you? More importantly what do others read when they look at your face, your posture, the way you carry yourself? Our lives are written all over our faces. The choices weve made wear on us, drawing their wrinkles, creating furrows and laugh lines, telling their stories. The texture of our skin, the tension around our lips, the light (or lack of light) in our eyes reveals things we might never voice.

The glare of some of our choices and the consequences weve invited into our lives can be overwhelming at times, causing us to burrow deeper into a space that provides temporary comfort at best. But in this place is also something very dangerousthe absence of truth. Though the truth hurts it is also what brings the clarity we need in order to be free. We need truth. The absence of it creates bondage. Yet our hearts are deceitful. They shrink from the truth in favor of pride, yet God waits. He waits for us to come to the end of ourselves and our various disappointments and failings. He waits to extend His mercy when we throw up our hands and surrender, confessing what we know and what we do not know. In those moments the truth can lie buried under the layers of way too many experiences weve stuffed to a place called Ill deal with it later in the name of survival.