I recently planned my yearly sojourn to Montauk, Long Island for next week. I look forward to this time away to be in my favorite place – the beach. However, the recent weather forecast has threatened to throw a wrench into my time of refreshing.

Coastal storms bringing heavy rain and wind are predicted for most of the week. Not exactly the kind of weather you want for a fall beach vacation. I have contacted the resort in the hopes of rescheduling and as of this writing am awaiting their response.

Best case – I can reschedule. Worst case – I go and have to spend a majority of my time indoors. While this is not the end of the world, it is disappointing.

But…who knows? The weather could take a turn (prayers please!) and all will be well in my world. Really well, actually! I mean Jesus did calm a hurricane with three words when He and the apostles were in the boat crossing the sea (Mark 4:39), and the Bible tells us that when we speak the Word of God, it’s the same as Jesus speaking it (1 Peter 4:11).

So I say to this storm – “Peace Be Still!”

I recently listened to a teaching about disappointment, which is defined as “the frustration of expectation.” That is, when we are expecting something to happen and it doesn’t, we naturally get frustrated. This causes us to be disappointed and think that whatever we are expecting, won’t happen.

Did you know that this is exactly what the devil wants to do in our lives? If he can keep us in a perpetual state of disappointment, then he has succeeded in stealing our joy (John 10:10), which is he knows is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

Additionally, he places doubt in our minds that God won’t fulfill His promise to us. He makes us think that God won’t do what He said He would. And the longer it takes? Well, that’s just more time the devil has to mess with us.

Remember…the ultimate goal of the devil is to separate us from our Father in heaven. And he will go to any lengths to do it. He’s been doing it since the beginning when he deceived Adam and Eve, twisting God’s Words so they would disobey Him (Genesis 3:1).

Deception. Lies. Confusion. These are the weapons the devil has in his arsenal. If he can convince you to not trust God,

 to lose your faith in His Word, he has won the battle. And if we allow him to keep doing this, then he has won big time as he will have robbed us of the abundant life Jesus died for us to have.

So what’s the antidote to disappointment? How do we avoid this negative feeling? (And remember, it is just a feeling so we can choose to feel differently!)

The prescription for disappointment is hope – a confident expectation that something good is going to happen.

As believers and followers of Jesus, this is the state of mind we need to be in 24/7/365. Is it easy? For some it may be. Those who naturally have a positive outlook on life, it is easier. But for those who lean towards the negative, it can be more challenging and require daily effort.

Yet, we know that with God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26) so if positivity and hopeful expectation are not our natural bent, we can ask God to help us change. And guess what? He will!

Do you think God wants to see us walking around disappointed and not living in the promises His Son died for us to have? No! Big Fat No! Our job is to remind the devil that he has already lost (remember, he’s in hell forever with no chance of ever getting out!) and we are more than conquerors in Christ (Romans 8:37).

Whether I get to go to Montauk next week is still up in the air. Either way, I will stand on the goodness of God and believe that it’ll be an amazing week.

Don’t let disappointment steal your joy. Believe in and speak God’s promises and know that He will come through for you no matter what storms are headed your way.

P.S. If you are feeling like your joy has left the building, then I want to encourage you to watch or listen to the Elevate The Day Podcast, “Your Joy Is Found In God” to learn more about to be more than a conqueror over your circumstances when you follow Jesus.