Defending Your Family - Lesson 3 - Disappointment

Disappointments are to the soul what a thunderstorm is to the air. –Schiller


disappoint: The defeat of expectation, wish, hope, desire or intention; to frustrate; to hinder from the possession or enjoyment of that which was intended, desired, hoped or expected. He tries to separate us from God's appointment - His purpose for us.

Where do we receive disappointment?
What areas does it come from?





Whenever you take your eyes off Jesus,
satan will always point you to people who will disappoint you
and problems with which you will be discouraged.

The devil works through complaining.
The common complainer says, “I don’t like it,” then offers no solution.
The common complainer says, “It’s your fault. You fix it.
You change. You do something. I’ll just sit here.”

The common complainer says, “If you don’t do it my way, I’ll go home or somewhere else.”
Or worse, “If you don’t do it my way,
I’ll stay until everyone is infected and miserable.”


Complaining is like poison in the belly of a bitter soul that hates to be alone.
So it spreads, it infects, it converts, it multiplies
– until the community is one bitter belly,
full of illness and sour in heart,
leaving God little room to work in our lives.

A cowboy was driving down a dirt road,
his dog riding in the back of his pickup truck,
his faithful horse in the trailer behind.
He failed to negotiate a curve and had a terrible accident.

Sometime later, a highway patrol officer arrived on the scene.
An animal lover, he saw the horse first.
Realizing the serious nature of its injuries,
he drew his revolver and put the animal out of its misery.

He walked around the accident and found the dog, also hurt critically.
He couldn’t bear to hear it whine in pain,
so he ended the dog’s suffering as well.

Finally, he located the cowboy – who suffered multiple fractures – off in the weeds.
“Hey, are you okay?” the cop asked.
The cowboy took one look at the smoking revolver in the trooper’s hand
and quickly replied, “Never felt better.”


The next time we are tempted to complain, try turning to Colossian.

Colossians 3:13, “Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.”


The devil works through blaming.
Ask any counselor, they will tell you playing the blame game
does very little good and can destroy any relationship.
Blame puts all the responsibility on someone else
and none of the responsibility on you.

The devil works through dissension and disunity.
The devil works through pride,
our own egos,
and our own personal agendas.

In 1858 the Illinois legislature--using an obscure statute--sent Stephen A. Douglas to the U.S. Senate instead of Abraham Lincoln, although Lincoln had won the popular vote. When a sympathetic friend asked Lincoln how he felt, he said, "Like the boy who stubbed his toe: I am too big to cry and too badly hurt to laugh."
Source Unknown.

Ecclesiastes 2:11, “Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.”

Do we set ourselves up for disappointment sometimes with our worldly plans?





Disappointment will become more Evident in the Last Days.

2Timothy 3:13, “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.”

Should we expect our disappointment to go away? Then what are we to do?





Amos 5:11, “Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.”

We are going to have disappointment and at times ‘labor in vain.’ What should our attitude be?





Haggai 1:6, “Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.”

Doesn’t it get frustrating at times?





Job 27:17, “He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.”

OK. I’m not disappointed any more. Now I’m frustrated, what about you?





We are doing all this work we think is for the Lord.
What about when the wicked seems to be prosperous?

Psalm 73:2-3, “But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.”
“For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”

Should we be envious of them?
Should we let the enemy whisper these disappointments in our ear?





We can rest on some promises of the Lord.

Job 8:22, “They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.”

Proverbs 1:28, “Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:”

Hosea 8:7, “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.”

Matthew 7:17, “Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.”


Proverbs 15:22, “Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.”

We enter a task because we are expecting a certain outcome. Did we take it to the lord in prayer? Did we seek counsel to others? Can you give testimony of this verse?





Let’s turn the tables on this disappointment.
But first we need to make sure our heart is right.

Psalm 66:18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:”

That’s a little scary isn’t it?





So let’s make sure our heart is right.
Let’s not keep in that unconfessed sin.
‘Well, I’m probably gonna do the same thing again tomorrow.
I’ll ask the Lord to forgive me tomorrow night.
One more time, then I will give it up.’

Once again, let’s turn the tables on this disappointment.


Psalm 17:13, “Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:”

Say it again, with feeling. Emphasize the word ‘him’ each time.
Doesn’t that feel better?





Job 5:12, “He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.”

So what are we so worried about?
Why do we lie in bed, sick to our stomach?





Some more promises

Proverbs 11:21, “Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered.”

That person who we think is the enemy at times,
maybe we need to love them more and pray for them more?





Proverbs 19:5, “A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape.”

‘He that speaketh lies.’ Lower case ‘h’.
Where is he going?





Whenever you take your eyes off Jesus,
satan will always point you to people who will disappoint you
and problems with which you will be discouraged.

Let’s go to the Lord for his reassuring words in these times.
Let’s not go down to the enemy’s level.
Let’s be the leaders that our spouses and children deserve.


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