Do you always get your way? Do you always reach every goal that you set for yourself? Do you always achieve the success that you desire? Do you always get what you want in life?

I do not need to have you give me your answers to the above questions. Why? Not because I know each detail of your life, but rather because I know from observation, personal experience, and the word of God that your answer to each of the questions presented must be "no." It is simply a fact of life that no human being ever has every single matter play out like he/she would like for it to.

A more important inquiry would be for each of us to ask, "How do I react when I do not get my way?" Or, "What is my response when things do not turn out like I had hoped they would?" That, my friends, is the big challenge, is it not? When small children want to drink "a Coke", but mean old mom or dad says, "You’ve had enough sweet stuff, if you want something to drink, drink water," those Coke-wanters just may throw a fit for the ages, yelling, kicking and screaming. They might pick up something and throw it across the room, or perhaps they will storm to their room and slam the door behind them. Sound familiar? Hey, we have seen some teenagers pull some of the same stunts, haven’t you? Regardless of how one might characterize such conduct at any stage of life, it is not cute or adorable by any stretch of the imagination. But, hopefully, with proper parental guidance, kids will grow out of it.

Sadly, however, some folks grow into physical adults, but they never stop "making a scene" and throwing fits and temper tantrums when things do not go their way in life. They reach adulthood, but not maturehood. As many of you are aware, my wonderful wife is a cashier at a fast-food restaurant. Nearly everyday that she works she comes home with real stories about how adults act like immature, little kids. Recently, one of the managers caught a customer doing his usual: ordering water, but sneaking over and filling his cup up with a soft drink. When the manager confronted the man about his action, he went ballistic. He told her if she wanted her drink back, she could have it – he threw it all over her. Ah, the joys of working with civilized, courteous people.

It is obvious that a person who throws his drink on a worker in a public eatery "has issues," as we say. But, my friend, do you and I deal any better with the disappointments that we face in life? How do you handle it when your requests to the Lord are not answered like you want them to be? What is your response when you had your heart set on something in life, but it did not turn out as you had hoped?

Please consider with me a few Bible examples of people that had a strong desire for something to happen, but it did not turn out like they wanted. Because Moses sinned in the wilderness by failing to do what Jehovah instructed him to do, God said that he would not be allowed to enter into the Land of Canaan. Later, when the children of Israel had made it to the east side of the Jordan River, Moses approached the Lord with a special request: let him go into the Promised Land. Moses recounted it in this fashion: "And I besought the LORD at that time, saying, O Lord God . . . I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon. But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee: speak no more unto me of this matter. Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan. But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see" (Deuteronomy 3:23-28).

In a nutshell, Moses’ request was denied. In fact, the Lord told him never to mention it again. He also charged him to go up into the top of Pisgah and see the land, which he did. In addition, the Lord told him to encourage and strengthen Joshua for the task that lie before him, which was to replace Moses as Israel’s leader. Did Moses fall apart when he heard God’s answer, an answer that must have greatly disappointed him? Did he go berserk and threaten to leave the children of Israel? Did he begin a campaign to smear God’s name? No, he "stayed in the game" and kept on serving the Lord. As touching the specific instruction that God gave him about encouraging Joshua, Deuteronomy 31:7 records, "And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sigh to fall Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers . . ." Moses did not get his way in the matter of entering the Land of Canaan, but his reaction to his disappointment was commendable, do you not agree?

Then there was King David. David wanted to build a permanent dwelling place for the ark of the covenant. However, it was not to be, as Jehovah plainly told the king through the prophet Nathan, "Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in" (1 Chronicles 17:1-4). So, David had his heart set on building it, but God said, "No." To David’s credit, he did not come unglued. Rather, he did all that he possibly could to get as much done in order that his son, Solomon, might have things ready to go for the building of the temple as soon as he became king in David’s place. Instead of dropping out of the Lord’s work, "David prepared abundantly before his death" (1 Chronicles 22:5). In addition, he rallied the children of Israel behind Solomon, urging them to work diligently for the temple project. David then personally encouraged Solomon to "keep the law of the LORD thy God" and "be strong and of good courage" (1 Chronicles 22:12,13). He also told Solomon, "Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the LORD" (1 Chronicles 22:14). David had his heart set on building the temple, but it was not to be. Yet, even in what David himself called a time of "trouble" in his life, he stayed busy in the Lord’s work.

Staying in the Old Testament, there is a memorable account involving King Ahab of Israel. Ahab had his heart set on something. What was it? He wanted the vineyard of Naboth, which was next to the king’s palace. He tried to persuade Naboth to make some type of deal with him for the vineyard, but Naboth refused (1 Kings 21:1-3). Do you remember Ahab’s reaction? "So Ahab went into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him . . . And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food" (1 Kings 21:4, NKJV). Real mature fellow, that Ahab! Yet, in all honesty, do we not see people today that go into a pouting mode when they do not get their way? As childish as it is, we sometimes observe members of the body of the Christ that pout and sulk when they do not get their way in the affairs of the Kingdom.

There were a number of instances in the life of the apostle Paul in which he desired to do something or have something take place, but he did not get his wish. On one occasion, he and his traveling companions "tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them" (Acts 16:7, NKJV). After he preached the gospel in Thessalonica, he later desired to return there to exhort the brethren. "But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored the more abundantly to see your face with great desire. Wherefore we would have come unto you, eve I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us" (1 Thessalonians 2:17,18). Again, Paul did not get his way.

Another matter of disappointment in Paul’s life involved what he called "a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me" (2 Corinthians 12:7). Three times he pleaded with the Lord to remove it, but the thorn stayed. Note carefully Paul’s reaction when he did get what he desired in this matter: "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities . . . Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities . . . for when I am weak, then am I strong" (2 Corinthians 12:9,10). What an attitude! Despite his disappointment and trouble, he kept on serving the Lord with gladness. Reckon any of us could learn a little something from this man’s example?!

See if any of these 21^st-century scenarios sound familiar. Brother A wants to serve as an elder, but when it does not work out for him to serve as one, he badmouths the current eldership and does everything within his power to torpedo the entire elder selection process. Sister B wants her husband to be scheduled to lead singing more often, but when it does not work out like she wants, they angrily announce to the church that they will attend some place where he is more appreciated (where he ends up leading singing even less). Brother C is offended when the walls of the classroom that he helped build 30 years ago are torn out in order to have a larger area available. He and his whole family just quit attending any activities of the church.

What is the common thread in each of these matters that I have listed? They all involve Christians facing disappointment, and not handling it well, to say the least. We would all do well to take to heart the message of James 1:19: ". . . let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath."

All of us will face disappointments in life. None of us will "get our way" every time. Let us learn to thank God for what we have, and let us strive to trust in Him to walk with us as we work through those things in life that trouble us.

-- Roger D. Campbell