Feeling disappointed?
When I heard about my school’s junior class sailing trip, I was excited. Being out in the ocean on a small sailing boat with classmates for a week may sound daunting, but I was up for the experience. I’ve always thought of myself as an adventurous person. And I’ve gone to camps for Christian Scientists since I was a kid, so I love camping trips.
On the first night of the trip, I didn’t feel well. Although I didn’t give it much thought, I was asked to take a Covid test that night, and the next morning, plans were made for me to head home. I felt frustrated and disappointed at missing the opportunity to get closer to my friends and enjoy this experience. I felt like asking God, “Why me?”
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I felt frustrated and disappointed at missing the opportunity to get closer to my friends and to enjoy this experience.
I had the whole 20-hour car ride back home to think more deeply and spiritually about this situation, and I decided to pray about it because prayer is something I’ve come to trust and rely on.
I called a Christian Science practitioner to ask her to pray for me, and she reminded me of what I had written earlier that year in my Bible class. It was a paper about Hannah—a woman in the Bible who wasn’t able to have children (see I Samuel 1:9–28). Hannah faithfully prayed to God about it and eventually had a child. She was so grateful to God that when he was old enough, she dedicated her son to serving God in the temple.
Samuel, her son’s name, is interpreted by Bible scholars as meaning “heard by God.” It was comforting for me to know that God always hears my prayers and knows my desires. Rather than giving in to disappointment, it’s my job to have faith in God and pray as diligently as Hannah did, even when things don’t seem to be going my way.
It might seem strange that Hannah prayed for a child, only to “lend” him to God. But I interpreted this story as Hannah knowing that having her son physically with her wasn’t the only way her prayer could be fulfilled. There was a bigger blessing in it for her and for others. So that’s why she could freely dedicate her son to God’s service. And later, she had five more children.
I realized that instead of thinking there was only one way to view the disappointment about my sailing trip, I could be like Hannah and see this as an opportunity to grow spiritually. And in the end, I think this experience gave me the opportunity for even greater growth than the sailing trip could have. Yes, I was giving up my desire for the sailing experience. But in return, I got to let God guide and show me how I could feel closer to Him. Focusing on the blessing rather than the disappointment helped me feel better physically, too.
The trip didn’t work out, but I learned I could still be faithful to God, and that always comes with rewards.
We all have desires, and sometimes they’re answered in unexpected ways. It’s not that God was preventing me from going on the sailing trip but that the trip just didn’t work out. But I learned I could still be faithful to God, and that always comes with rewards.
Next time something goes wrong, or it seems like you’re not where you want to be, remember that God knows your desires—and answers them. We can still find satisfaction and feel God’s care no matter where we are or what we’re doing.