It’s Christmas morning and with great anticipation, you open a gift from your favorite person. It’s not what you expected.You look at it, turn it so that you can observe it from every angle and you still wonder… What is it? What do I do with it? Silently you think, “I didn’t ask for this!”

Disappointment can come in many forms and can cause the same perplexing questions… What is it? What do I do with it?

It is hard to imagine disappointment as a gift, but according the book of James, if it comes from God, not only is it a gift, but it is a good gift.

How is your disappointment a good gift from your heavenly Father?

I have found the gift of disappointment to REVEAL and RESHAPE… to reveal to me more of the nature of God and to reshape in me more of His character.

Reveal: Through a heart wrenching, personal disappointment, God has revealed to me a deeper experience of His presence, comfort when there was no explanation for my peace, and fresh awareness of His tireless pursuit of His children.

Reshape: Though I cannot change my situation, God is changing me. I am becoming more courageous, more sure of what I believe, more compassionate, more forgiving, more humble, and more at rest in the trustworthiness of God.

What is your disappointment? What do you do with it? How is it a good gift?

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17