“Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before. I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:13-14 ASV

 

Disappointment and grief will hold us captive and prevent us from fulfilling our potential and reaching our destiny – if we allow it to. One of the ways that we move on from disappointment and grief is by taking our focus off of the situation and placing it onto what lies ahead.

 

 

Jesus had many opportunities for disappointment and grief. Think about Peter denying Him, three times. Think about Judas selling Him out and betraying Him. Think about the amount of people He ministered to who didn’t receive but from Him but rather rejected Him. And yet you never read anywhere in Scripture where Jesus focused on the past upsets. You never read anything like, “Peter, you really hurt me when you rejected me…” or “I can’t believe what that Judas did! Wasn’t he grateful for what I’ve done for him?”. Jesus never focused on the past; He never wasted time or emotional energy talking about negative things that had happened and how it affected His emotions. He knew how to deal with disappointments and grief: He chose to love, forgive and focus on His mission. An effective way to deal with today’s upsets is to walk in love towards others, choosing to forgive them and keeping focused on your mission (on what lies ahead). A lot of people struggle to move forward from grief and disappointments because they haven’t discovered their mission and they aren’t living out their purpose. It’s difficult to move on if there isn’t really anything to move on to!

 

“… who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:2 KJV

 

 

Jesus went through a great deal of suffering with the cross and Scripture shows us that He “endured the cross.” To endure means to suffer patiently. Jesus suffered patiently through the whipping, the torture and the agony of the cross knowing that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5) He knew what His pain would accomplish and He knew victory awaited Him, and so He chose to focus on the joy ahead and not on the pain of the present. You can get through a difficult time and you can overcome disappointment and grief by taking your focus off of the present and putting it onto the future.

 

 

Your enemy, the devil, will try his best to distract you from your mission in life. He would love to stop you from moving forward in God’s purposes for you. He has no shortage of people willing to work for him, and so all he needs is someone willing to push the right buttons to upset you or disappoint you, and if you don’t deal with those situations properly (in love and forgiveness) he will succeed in immobilising you. If he can use a situation of grief to get you to stop focusing on your future filled with hope (Jeremiah 29:11) then he will. If you don’t deal with grief and disappointment by walking in love and forgiveness, and if you don’t choose to focus on what lies ahead (on your mission) then you will allow the enemy to kill, steal and destroy you. You will be allowing him to rob you of the blessing that is waiting for you. Choose not to indulge in the self-centered emotions of disappointment and grief.