Disappointment in life touches all of us and sometimes it can be very difficult to handle. When it comes unexpectedly the shock sometimes drives people even to suicide. Sometimes there may be even what appears to be seasons of disappointment when, as they say, "everything goes wrong!" If parents have always tried to shield their children from disappointments and failures even in games, they are unprepared for that part of life when they become shattered by their disappointments.
We need an 'anchor' that keeps us safe from drifting away into confusion and hopelessness when the storms of life hit us. It is not enough to know in theory that Jesus is our Anchor but we must also know how to hold on to Him when the actual situations cause turmoil in our minds. It is one of the big challenges to faith when we have hoped for something from the Lord and it doesn't happen. Our faith must be realistic, based on real promises of God and not our wishful thinking or verses in the Bible that do not relate to us.
When the early church started with Pentecost and the apostles began to preach Christ with power, opposition also came up. Herod put James to death and was planning to kill Peter too when God intervened and delivered him by sending an angel (Ac.12:1-10). Imagine what we would have thought and felt if we were in the family of James! Wouldn't we find it hard to understand why God permitted him to die after having trained him for three years in the 'core group' of the apostles? Where was God's protection? Can we now trust this God for our own protection?
We may never be able to solve this perplexing question here on earth. Our anchor is to trust in God's love and wisdom even when we can't figure things out. Our faith is not based on knowing answers to problems but what we know about God (He.11:6).
One of the most difficult challenges we face is death, either of our loved ones or our own. We tend to look at it as the 'end' of our life on earth (2Ki.20:1-3). Then it is only natural that we are disappointed when it comes. But look at it from God's eyes. For Him it is the beginning of a glorious life for His child. None of us can imagine the wonderful things He has prepared and kept ready for us over there (1Co.2:9). If we look at it this way, we may be able to understand that He didn't consider James' death as a loss but as a glorious transition.
What about the lesser disappointments in our life? From the earthly point of view they are painful. But think of God being able to turn them around to work out something for our eternal good (Ro.8:28,29)! When we hold on to this anchor by faith, we allow God to add to our character godliness that will last through eternity (2Co.4:17). This anchor can take us beyond the veil that ushers us into God's presence, not just when we die but now by faith so that we can walk in victory over our disappointments. On one side earthly pain hits us, but on the other God gives us hope to hold on to.