DISAPPOINTMENT OR DECISION
Many of you know that I
was very passionate about this midterm election. Well, it turns out that except in the case of a few judges, I was
not with the majority on my voting. And every issue I voted down, the majority
voted to pass through. So, what do I do? Pout? Get mad? Give up? Well maybe a
little pouting, and some disappointment, but I definitely won’t give up. I
truly believe God has this handled. So many times I’ve seen that God’s ultimate
plan was, and still is much more far-reaching than my eyes could see. So, I
trust and let Him do His job, and I get busy with His next assignment for me.
I’m getting better at being
able to move ahead past disappointments. I can’t let discouragement get a
toe-hold. It’s not healthy for my body or my soul.
God says: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways
my ways, saith the Lord”
(Is. 55:8). Sometimes God lets us know His thoughts and His ways before a thing
happens, but sometimes we don’t catch the understanding until a time afterward. It’s necessary to rely totally on
faith and trust in Him. And He promises us that He always has our best in mind.
I learned a long time ago that the loss of anything or anyone
requires a period of grieving, even if it is a very short time, we have to take
an honest look at the loss and deal with it.
Grieving is a universal
phenomenon. There’s plenty of studies on sorrow and grief, but there’s still
much to be learned about how it works, how long it takes, and the effects it
has. The one thing we do know is that it’s a process and it varies with
situations and people.
We can see from the Bible
different examples of the grieving process. Signs included tearing one’s robe,
weeping, having disheveled hair, putting dust and ashes into the hair or
shaving the hair or beard. Other indications of sorrow included wearing black
or sad-colored clothing, removal of ornaments or neglect of person, fasting or
abstinence in meat or drink, and wearing sackcloth. Sackcloth was made of goat
or camel hair and was coarse and
uncomfortable. One Bible dictionary said that men were generally more silent in
grief and women more vocal and demonstrative.
These were things that exhibited
in ancient times, but the grieving process hasn’t really changed much over the years. Just one example I can think of
is female friends who’ve done something to change the style or color of their
hair after a divorce. I don’t know if it’s even a conscious decision or just
part of the inward, inherent grief reaction.
In the Bible, the days of mourning
varied. In the case of Jacob, it
was 70 days (Gen. 50:3). In Saul’s case, only seven
days (1 Sam. 31:13). In Moses’ time,
the official period of grief was 30 days.
When Moses died, and the allowable
30 days was over, God told Joshua it was time for him to get up and get going.
I think that a lot of times we need someone with insight to help us get going
too, to wake us up out of our grief and get us to move on before the sorrow
destroys us or makes us morose.
I know I needed a push when my dog
Spike passed away. I was so sad I couldn’t see getting a new dog and had
convinced myself that I couldn’t get one because of the cat. My friend Miki
kept pestering me with pictures of rescue dogs that needed homes, and I kept pushing the idea away. Then my
best friend Jane rescued a dog from the alley. We made two failed attempts at
giving him away and finally got the message: “Keep the dog!” My time of grief
was supposed to be over, and God was
working through insightful people, forcing me to move on.
When God pushed Joshua, it was a
new thing for him. Moses was gone, and
now he had the responsibility to lead God’s people. I’m sure it was a little
intimidating. Any time we’re forced to embrace something new, after losing
something we loved, it’s hard. But we don’t have to do it alone. God told
Joshua: “Be strong and of a good courage;
be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee
whithersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1:9).
When we lose our loved ones, or if
we lose our homes, our jobs, or even our well-thought-through choices on an
election, it’s okay to grieve those things. It’s good to recognize and face
loss head-on,
then realize the loss has opened up an opportunity to seek and trust the Lord
for what will be next.
In Isaiah 48:6 God promises He
will show us new things, hidden things that we’ve never known before. “I have shown thee new things from this time, even
hidden things, and thou didst not know them.”
For me, I’m sad that things didn’t
go my way in the midterm election, but I’m looking at the good things that happened. And the Lord is showing me that
there’s more good to come, so I’m ready and willing to believe and see.
Love, Carolyn
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