Overcoming Failures & Disappointments Series

References:

Compiled by: Herman Abrahams (Pastor), Cornerstone Faith Ministries, P.O. Box 740, Westridge 7802, Rep. of South Africa.

E-Mail: Mentorship2003@yahoo.co.uk

Note to the reader:

If you have been blessed with this sermon compilation, I would be honoured to receive an e-mail from you simply stating where in the world you are based- I do not need any other information. This is merely so that I can have the pleasure of giving thanks to Almighty God that all over the globe, the ministry which he has entrusted to me, is blessing the body of Christ and helping to extend the Kingdom of God.

Thank you.

Herman Abrahams,

Cape Town, South Africa.

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OVERCOMING FAILURES & DISAPPOINTMENTS

Isa 54:1 “Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD.

Isa 54:2 “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. Isa 54:3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities. Isa 54:4 “Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. Isa 54:5 For your Maker is your husband— the LORD Almighty is his name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. Isa 54:6 The LORD will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit— a wife who married young, only to be rejected,” says your God. Isa 54:7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. Isa 54:8 In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer. Isa 54:9 “To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again. Isa 54:10 Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

INTRODUCTION

A. WHAT IS DISAPPOINTMENT?

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• DISAPPOINTMENT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EXPECTATION AND REALITY.

TO FAIL TO MEET THE EXPECTATIONS OR HOPES...

To offer great effort and still not see fruition or realization of the goal.

To be confused and puzzled.

To be let down

• To have done something in vain.

Feelings of discouragement.

To keep one from attaining his desires.

B. LIFE WILL BRING DISAPPOINTMENT TO EVERY PERSON.

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• LIFE IS A WORK IN PROGRESS!

God is still working on us, we are not a finished product.

Some of us want water, but we don’t want to dig the well.

• We live in an age of instant everything and this is what some of us expect in life and ministry; …

• When things don’t work out, we are left disappointed.

1. UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS

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a) Sometimes we are disappointed because our expectations are not realistic.

Example: expecting your child to speak seven languages fluently by age ten.

This may be an extreme, however many people live in extremes and are therefore subject to a lot of disappointments.

b) As Christians we are frequently unrealistic concerning our ministries also. We expect things to happen overnight.

2. FAILURE NEED NOT BE FATAL & SUCCESS IS NEVER

FINAL.

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a) Where disappointments are concerned, we need to know that failure need not be fatal and success is never final.

 There is always something more, as long as the earth remains and we have breath. He is the God of the impossible – he will restore the years that the locusts have eaten:

Isaiah 54:1

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“Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD.

b) We might be temporarily cast down, but we are never forsaken.

 One lost battle does not mean that the war is lost.

 It means ‘gather up your forces and go forward.’

 Remember the hymn …

Onward, Christian Soldiers

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,

with the cross of Jesus going on before.

Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;