Letdowns
pepper life.
An early Canadian fur trader and explorer, Sir Alexander
Mackenzie led an expedition across Canada in 1793, beginning at Fort Chippewyan
on Lake Athabasca and ending at the Pacific Ocean.
Mackenzie had made an earlier attempt in 1789 that didn’t
turn out so well. The valiant group followed a mighty river, which is now named
the Mackenzie. They had high hopes and paddled furiously amid great danger.
Unfortunately, the route didn’t empty into the Pacific, but into the Arctic
Ocean. In his diary, Mackenzie called this river the “River of Disappointment.”
He and his crew experienced one of life’s letdowns.
Jesus knew
about let downs too. Judas let Him down. This faithful follower turned out to
be not so faithful. When he was offered money to betray Jesus, he took it and
sealed the deal by giving Jesus a kiss of death. Later, his regret led him to
hang himself.
Peter also
let Jesus down. When the authorities arrested Jesus, all the disciples fled.
Peter followed the mob. As he sat in the courtyard waiting to see what would happen
to Jesus, some questioned him about his association with Jesus. Several times,
he denied knowing Jesus. When the rooster crowed, Peter remembered what Jesus
had told him, and he wept bitterly. He had let down the one He loved.
Others will
let us down, and we’ll let others down. We’re human. Imperfect. The letdown
will happen, and we won’t be able to prevent it. Expecting to go through life
without experiencing let downs sets us up for disappointment. When we live with
reasonable expectations of letdowns, we’ll deal with the pain of the let down
in a healthier way.
What we do
with the letdown, especially if we are the one who did the letting down, is
important. Judas’ remorse led him in the wrong direction; Peter’s led him in
the right direction. Peter confessed and got on with the business of serving
Jesus.
Others may
not always apologize when they let us down, but we can express sorrow and make
things right if we’re the ones who did the letting down.
Don’t base
your happiness on the actions of others. When the letdowns come, take the
proper actions and move on.
Prayer:
Father, when the letdowns come, move us to the right actions and then move us
on.
Tweetable: How do you handle life's letdowns?
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