Disappointed
Good Morning,
The reason I left home to attend Bible college is because I wanted my life to make a difference. I believed that God had a purpose for me. I believed that somehow, in the eternal perspective, my life mattered. As such, I knew I must get trained to be able to do what God designed me to do.
When I arrived at Bible college, I was a very young Christian; I had only been saved about eighteen months. In those eighteen months, I had read my Bible by the hour; it was my daily joy and fulfillment. I showed up at Bible college believing one thing – the Bible was my guide.
Within weeks of salvation, I turned from the crowd of young people who were drinking liquor and going to the parties. I had walked away from the fraternity dances and secular gatherings. They simply did not match up with what I had been reading in my Bible. I had already determined that there was something called “modesty,” and something that was immodest. Although I did not yet know where to draw the line, it was obvious that one existed.
I had already been witnessing to people, and had led people to Christ. That too was obvious. Though I probably fumbled through way too many verses and talked way too much, the message got across.
Seven years from the time of my salvation, I was knocking on doors, introducing myself as the pastor who is starting a church. As one man said, “I was green enough that if you stuck me in the dirt, I would grow roots and leaves.” I knew very little. I did know that my faith was based on my Bible and that it was God Who wrote it – not men!
I started my Christian life trusting God - not people. If someone disappointed me, I was disappointed IN THAT PERSON, NOT IN GOD. The failure of another believer had nothing to do with my faith, my convictions, or my lifestyle. If someone who attended church with me in the early months of my Christian life dropped out of church and became a doubter or a critic, their actions had no bearing on the Book in my hand or my God in Heaven.
If a Bible college teacher or a pastor changed or acted in an inappropriate manner, it had no bearing on my beliefs. I did not put my faith in men. I put my faith in my Bible, my Father in Heaven, and in my Savior.
David said if his father and mother forsook him, God would not. (Psalm 27:10) Paul said that his own friends forsook him, but God did not. (1Timothy 4:16) There is no doubt that Jesus had friends and countryman forsake Him, but His faith was secure.
The idea of giving up your faith because someone hurt or disappointed you, or somebody else gave up the faith only proves one thing – your faith was not in the Bible, in Jesus, or in the Heavenly Father – because those do not change.
Settle it now: people are frail, people are weak, and people make sinful or unwise decisions. Expect people to “disappoint you,” for it is only human. You ought to have faith that is based on a Book and a God that never changes.
You may be hurt by the actions of another Christian, but the truth is still the truth. You just go on wounded.
Pastor