Pangs of Disappointment

I’m not a gambler, neither do I recommend gambling. But you’d think that when you hit a jackpot, especially a big one, you’d walk away a rich person, right?. Well, not so fast. In August 2016 a lady playing a slot machine had an unusual experience. Katrina Bookman hit a jackpot. The slot machine spit out a cash ticket for $42,949,672.75! The casino’s response was, “Sorry, ma’am, you didn’t win $43M. There was a machine malfunction. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you!”

She didn’t go away empty handed. The casino offered her a steak dinner. That’s what I call a pang of disappointment.

Solomon observed some disappoints too: fast runners who didn’t finish first, strong warriors who lost the battle, skilled people who went broke. It seems that life’s disappointments are unavoidable. 

From a human perspective, much of the blame is placed on luck or chance. Solomon offered a different one: “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD” [Proverbs 16.33]. There you have it, God is in control.

Jesus knew only too well the pangs of disappointment. Let down by the denials of Peter, betrayed by His close friend, Judas, an envious mob choosing a known criminal to be released and having Him crucified — He gets it!

The disciples were deeply hurt on Good Friday, but Jesus did something about it. He rose from the grave three days later, reversing the pangs of disappointment. And one day, He’ll wipe away the tears of our disappointments too! [Revelation 21.4]

I returned and saw under the sun that—

The race is not to the swift,

Nor the battle to the strong,

Nor bread to the wise,

Nor riches to men of understanding,

Nor favor to men of skill;

Ecclesiastes 9.11