There is one way to avoid being disappointed. Wrap yourself in a tight little bundle of Self. I do not recommend it. If you withdraw from life, refuse to get involved with others, and avoid risk as much as possible, you will not experience nearly as much disappointment, but is that how you want to live, safely insulated from both joy and sorrow, hiding from life? People who are fully alive, working to make a difference in the world, and loving others will get hurt.  

People who fail need our forgiveness! And, we need to forgive. Forgiveness is a greater blessings to the forgiver than it is to the forgiven. Forgiveness, in one sense, is releasing others from our demand that they act in ways we approve or like. Forgiveness is a choice to submit to a higher purpose and to surrender our pain to God. We do so because we know that He will bring all things to justice in His time. When we release that person who has disappointed us to God’s court, we find freedom from the anger, hatred, and bitterness that can follow disappointment. Jesus taught that unless we forgive, we cannot find forgiveness! “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors…. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:12)

Sometimes we must choose to adjust our expectations. It is possible to spend a huge amount of energy fighting to make everything fit into what we hoped for in life. That is actually a form of self-centeredness and it will always lead to a life of misery, bitterness, and loneliness. I love the opening lines of Reinhold Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.”

Listen for God’s voice in everything you do,
everywhere you go;
He’s the one who will keep you on track.”