Sermon Central
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When People Disappoint Us Series
Contributed by Alan Tison on Jun 17, 2007 (message contributor)
Summary: All of us have lost our joy because of people, by what they say and what they do, and no doubt, we too have contributed to steal the joy of others by our actions as well. Yet we have to live and work with people, we cannot isolate ourselves and still live
If you area teenager you sometimes feel as if it is your parents job to embarrass you or to make your life difficult.
In honor of Father’s Day, I came across the 9 things a teenage daughter does not want to hear from her dad.
10. “Let me explain what ’deductible’ means on car insurance.”
9. “Your mom’s almost ready. Where are we going on our double date?”
8. “Seems to me last year’s prom dress still has some life in it.”
7. “I signed us up for the Father/Daughter karaoke contest this Friday night.”
6. “We agree, grandma will help you pick out this years swim suit.”
5. “Let’s get ice cream, my treat! Just let me grab my jar of coins.”
4. Who needs an Ipod, our 8-track player still sounds great
3. “You don’t need to go shopping after all. I picked out a purse for you on my way home.”
2. “I ran into Bobby at the grocery store. I told him that you’re really hoping he’ll ask you to the dance.”
1. “By the way, I had to borrow your deodorant yesterday.”
Hearing any of those comments can be disappointing to say the least. You do not have to be a teen-age daughter to face a life of disappointments. We all face disappointments in this life…
The promotion we thought was in the bag, suddenly disappears
The award we did not win
The raise that did not come through
Our team not winning it all
Disappointments bring us frustration and anxiety.
I heard a story about two old friends who met at their college reunion. One of the men had become very successful. The other friend was a little down on his luck. As the night wore on the less successful man asked his wealthy friend, “Tell me, how you accumulated all of your wealth?” The wealthy man said I owe all to the Bible. “The Bible!” The man replied. “Yes, a few years ago I started opening the Bible, close my eyes and simply pointed to a word. The word was oil, so I invested in oil, and soon the oil came rushing in and I became rich, later I tried the same thing, opened the Bible, closed my eyes, pointed and found the word gold, again I invested in gold and soon my investments paid off. Recently I tried my method again, opened the Bible, closed my eyes and pointed to a word – silver, I invested and sure enough, the price went up and now I am as rich as the Rockefellers are”.
The man was dumbfounded that this was his friend’s strategy, but he was so impressed with the results he rushed back to his hotel, opened the bible on the nightstand, closed his eyes and dropped his fingerer on the page, he opened his eyes and found his finger resting on CHAPTER 11! The man was disappointed.
We are in a series of messages titled the Joy Stealers. Last week, we discovered Paul’s solution when circumstances steal our joy. Today I want us to look at a second joy stealer - Disappointment. Though circumstances can be disappointing, what is truly troublesome is when people disappoint us.
Someone has disappointed us all…
A friend let’s you down, and you put a wall in your relationship
A spouse breaks a promise, and trust is broken
A child acts selfishly, and you wonder what were they thinking
A employee steals from you, and now you leery of all of your employees
An employer does not keep his or her word regarding a promotion or salary increase, soon your job becomes unsatisfying.
Maybe you have been disappointed by a minister of church leader, and it causes you to be withdrawn from the joy of service
People have disappointed all of us. When that happens, we can have the philosophy of Charlie Brown – who told his trust psychiatrist, Lucy, “I love mankind it people who bring me the most difficulty”
All of us have lost our joy because of people, by what they say and what they do, and no doubt, we too have contributed to steal the joy of others by our actions as well. Yet we have to live and work with people, we cannot isolate ourselves and still live to glorify Christ. We are the light of the world and the salt of the earth, but sometimes the light grows dim and the sale becomes bitter because of the actions of others. So how do we react when people steal our joy?
In Philippians 2 Paul gives us two solutions to when people disappoint us.
1 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
