Appointed, not Disappointed!
I recently experienced a series of disappointments. It wasn't a really big deal, but enough to send me running into the Father's arms. As I grappled before Him with my bruised heart and unmet expectations, He challenged me with a question as He quietly asked, "Are you still appointed?" His question seemed to come out of left field, but I quickly knew the answer as His "appointment" had been one of the deep works He had done in me.
The dictionary defines appointment as "decided on beforehand or designated". Then, the dictionary defines "dis" as "do the opposite of". The enemy is seeking to do the opposite of appointment in our lives. He wants us to believe the lie that we are not chosen or decided on beforehand. He wants us to believe that we will get second best and others will be chosen before us. He wants us to feel the separation and agony that he feels by causing us to doubt our secure place in the Father.
As a child I grew up in a neighborhood with a lot of other children living nearby. We would play lots of games like softball, tag, or hide-and-seek. If the game required a team, I remember the agonizing feeling of waiting as the teams were picked by their captains. How well I remember the dreaded shame and humiliation of being chosen last, or not at all. We've probably all experienced moments like these. Though these were childhood games and long forgotten, sometimes hurts like these can remain in our hearts.
Many years later as I spent time with the Lord, the Holy Spirit breathed on this passage from Isa. 43, "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine." The reality that He chose me and knew me personally enough to summon me by name, released to me a new level of identity and belonging. I knew I was chosen to be part of His family.
He chose us, appointed us, and we belong to Him! We are orphans no more, but our wonderful Father spared nothing, not even His only Son, to make sure we could be at His side.
The enemy wants to continue the lie that we are orphans so he perpetuates scenarios and situations that would cause us to feel disappointed. He tends to like the "dis" words such as disapprove, dishearten, disaffirm, disgrace, and disappoint. Disappointment causes us to lose hope, and Proverbs tells us that "hope differed makes the heart sick." But, the truth is WE ARE APPOINTED no matter what scenarios come into our lives. Knowing in the depths of our hearts that we are appointed will quickly diffuse any lies that come our way that tell us we are "dis-appointed".
God is bringing healing to hearts of those who have felt disappointed in this season. The truth that we are appointed, chosen, and decided on beforehand, brings so much healing to the deep lies that have pierced each of our hearts. He's calling us up to a higher level of knowing our true identity as He goes deeper and deeper into our hearts. Though we may still go through process and have to wait to see the fulfillment of our calling, our security can rest firmly in the knowledge of His love, goodness, and appointment in our lives.
"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit--fruit that will last--and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you." - John 15:16
