There are so many things in life that can disappoint, from the major to the minor. We get disappointed by people, news, plans and more. Disappointment is often the threshold to a downward spiral into hopelessness. There is a cure for disappointment. It isn’t getting the opposite result of what disappointed you in the first place. It is bigger than that. The secret healing for disappointment is described in Romans 5:5:

“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Hope drives away disappointment.”

How do you hang on to hope and face reality? There is a reality that you need to grasp beyond the disappointing news. The reality is that God has poured out His love into your heart by the Holy Spirit. The ingredients for hope (the cure for disappointment) are: God, love, and the Holy Spirit. God pours them together into the container of your heart and a magical transformation—an alchemy of the soul—occurs. It is the instant reaction of a soul who opens itself to God’s remedy.

I see it happen every day. I know it is real. It is just as real, only more pleasant and powerful, as disappointment.

Power to transform disappointment into hope is mighty. You may wonder why God doesn’t use that same power simply to transform the situation instantly. I know I do. Wouldn’t it be more effective to miraculously cure that cancer rather than cure the soul? Both reveal the mighty power of God. Even I have to concede that having hope in a disappointing circumstance grows my soul more than getting the opposite of what disappointed me does. With the answer I want, I’m happy. I usually praise God. I share His goodness to me with others. But with the hope that is poured into my heart with God’s love through the Holy Spirit I’m changed. I’m better than I was before. I’m stronger. I’m deeper. I believe more fully in the power of God’s love, the Holy Spirit and hope. There is no other possible explanation for the hope that I have in disappointing circumstances.
I can even see that much of it. Still, I hope for the disappointment to be settled by God through giving me the circumstances that I pray for. That’s hope, too. Either way, disappointment is cast out.

I get disappointed in people, in plans, in outcomes. It is an inevitable consequence of living in a disappointing world. I’m sure God feels disappointment, too. He knows how easily it can lead down a downward spiral to destruction so He offers an escape from disappointment. It is hope. If you want it, you need to open your heart to His love that He pours into your heart through the Holy Spirit. Cry away your disappointment while opening your heart to hope.