2020 – the year of disappointment for every single person on the globe (except maybe Dr. Fauci). You thought you were going to have an awesome senior year? Summer camp on the calendar? Big, huge wedding planned? Open a new business? Finally make that move?

2020 is one disappointment after another for many of us. Some big. Some small. I entered the library last week for the first time in four months. As I checked out my books on hold, I glanced around at the sparsely populated area so familiar to me. Yellow caution tape marked off certain tables and chairs. Two sofas were turned upside down. People, including myself, wore masks. And I felt pain. A small amount. I shed no tears. But I was keenly aware of the discomfort in my chest and throat as one of my favorite places to take my kids was now a place I wanted to quickly leave. It’s hard to go anywhere or do anything right now without being reminded that life is not really going our way.

How do we deal with all this disappointment? While no vaccine will ever exist for heartache, God’s word offers comfort. One particular passage that encourages me is Psalm 84:11-12,

“For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, How blessed is the man who trusts in You!”

No good thing does He withhold. Not a single one. That means when God withholds the next step on the corporate ladder from the person who is walking uprightly, that promotion was actually not a good thing for that person. From my husband’s perspective three years ago, becoming a partner at a big four accounting firm would have been a very good thing. But human knowledge is limited. God saw more; He withheld the opportunity. We think things are good for us that God knows are not.

If you love God and did not have that big, huge wedding in 2020 you had been planning for months, that means that wedding was actually not a good thing for you. The move? Not good. Summer camp? Not good this time. High school graduation? For some reason, not good either.

Perhaps in hindsight we will agree with God by observation that something was not good, but in the present we must agree by faith. We feel the pain of disappointment over and over this year. We see so many things that seem good being withheld from us. We must fight to open our eyes of faith and believe that God never ever withholds anything good from those who walk uprightly. We are called to trust Him in this year of hardship. We are called to believe His word now just like in 2019 when everything was “normal.”

God is at work. He is leading His people. He is accomplishing His purposes. We may be experiencing disappointment on repeat, but let us take all those cares to the One who has never intended anything towards His children but absolute good. We best deal with disappointment by placing total trust in our almighty, good, all-knowing God. Have faith! Keep trusting!