Charles Spurgeon on Disappointment
I read a 9 page sermon about disappointment and these were my take -aways..
Who are you that everything should happen just as you wish?… Let us bear the disappointment bravely, and lay the whole case before the Lord in prayer.”
Our disappointments teach us our need of greater wisdom than our own, and also teach us the folly of trusting to our own understanding.
Be patient, brother; what thou knowest not now, thou shalt know hereafter.”
Be satisfied that whatever God does must be right.”
God has never failed anyone who has trusted him.”
God’s promise is his cheque, which can be cashed at the Bank of Faith in every time of need.
If they knew what the consequences would have been if their expectations had been realized, they would fall down upon their knees, and devoutly praise the Lord for the disappointment which had been so great a blessing in disguise to them
“There will be some things that will fulfill your expectations, but there will be others that will not.”
Sanctified disappointments are a part of that rod of the covenant which is so beneficial in the hand of a chastening God.”
“When such a trial comes, there is nothing for a believer to say but this, ‘It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good.’”
Disappointments may be greatly sanctified. They are not so always; for, sometimes, they irritate, and so cause sin; or they create a murmuring spirit against God, and so make us worse than we were before.”
This makes it all the easier for you to submit without murmuring to God’s will.”
“If he frowns upon thee to-day, he will smile upon thee to-morrow.”
Charles Spurgeon teaches that disappointment is one of God’s most effective tools for sanctifying His people. While disappointment is painful and often difficult to understand, it is never outside the wise and loving providence of God. If believers could see the end from the beginning with God’s perfect wisdom, they would choose the very path He has chosen for them. What appears to be a loss is often a hidden mercy, protecting them from dangers they cannot see and accomplishing eternal purposes they cannot yet understand.
Spurgeon explains that disappointment always presents a spiritual crossroads. It can produce impatience, bitterness, and a murmuring spirit against God, or it can deepen faith, humility, and submission. The believer’s responsibility is not to complain about God’s providence or strive against His will, but to trust that the Father’s hand is directing every trial with perfect wisdom .
One of the chief blessings of disappointment, according to Spurgeon, is that it loosens the believer’s attachment to this world. Earthly hopes, possessions, relationships, and ambitions can easily become the objects of misplaced confidence. When God removes these earthly props, He teaches His children to rest more fully in Christ alone. Trials often make Jesus more precious than He was before, causing believers to value His faithfulness above every earthly comfort and to long more earnestly for the heavenly country where disappointment will never be known.
Throughout the sermon, Spurgeon urges believers to meet every disappointment with patient trust rather than grumbling. God has never promised that every earthly expectation will be fulfilled, but He has promised that His purposes are always good and that His promises never fail. The Christian can therefore rest confidently, knowing that every disappointment has passed through the hands of a wise, sovereign, and loving Father who is working all things together for the good of those who trust Him.
