“But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” — Luke 22:32
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The dictionary defines disappointment as “sadness or displeasure caused by the nonfulfillment of one’s hopes or expectations.” In this life, every one of us will face disappointment. Whether it is because of our own choices, people, government, teachers, coaches or family, disappointment will be a part of our story.
The thing about being disappointed is that you don’t have to park in it. God has made a way for us to bounce back from being disappointed. We can read through one of the most heart-wrenching stories in the Bible of someone being disappointed, and the story will be tragic, but it can become a story of hope and encouragement for us.
Luke 22:31-34 tells us the beginning of Peter’s journey through disappointment. Jesus reveals to Peter that Satan has asked for Peter. Wait a minute — the father of lies asked for Peter? This is astonishing. What did Satan know about Peter’s calling that he didn’t?
This first step to walking free of disappointment is to know that you have a calling and destiny for your life. This is why we can’t stop going after God. If we stop because we disappointed someone or someone disappointed us, we will never fulfill our purpose in life. And that’s exactly what Satan wants. Peter was called to be a pillar of this new movement called the Church. Satan hated Peter then and wants to stop the Church now. We can’t let him.
— LaMorris Crawford, former NFL chaplain
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