Grateful Disappointment By R. Scott Rodin

Finding God’s Best Amid Disappointment

The title of this blog post, Grateful Disappointment, seems self-contradictory. Recently, I’ve come to discover it is not. Here’s my quick story.

Preparations

For the last five months, I have been training hard to join a small team of people in climbing Mount Baker in Washington state, as part of a wonderful local ministry called Peak 7. At 10,800 feet, it is a challenging climb that requires the use of crampons and ropes and involves significant glacial travel. Last week we made the journey.

Reaching Base Camp

The hike to the high base camp included crossing several rivers and ascending a final 3/4 of a mile along a steep and challenging ridgeline with our 45lb packs. Along the way, I pulled a muscle in my right quad, forcing me to overuse my left leg to compensate. As a result, the final ascent up the ridge took a significant toll on the team. By the time I reached base camp, I had expended far more energy than I could afford.

When the alarm went off at midnight the next morning, I was reluctant to get up and start the eight-hour trek to the summit, as my body made it clear to me that I wouldn’t be able to go along. I watched as my son and his friend, along with our two guides, disappeared as little dots of light over a dark ridge in the distance.

Processing Disappointment

Later that morning, I woke to the scene I captured in the picture above. The question in my spirit was, how do I process what had just happened? I struggled with the disappointment of having trained so hard and yet coming up short of my goal. I stood looking up at the summit, yearning to be up there with the team and capturing that photo at the top that I so longed to have framed in my office.

The Shift

As I stood with my gaze fixed on the summit, questioning what I could’ve done differently or how yesterday could have gone more according to plan. The brilliant warmth of the sun finally got my attention.

I looked away from the summit for a moment and took in the grandeur of the place where I stood. Slowly, my heart and my attitude began to change. I was alone in base camp with only the sound of the numerous streams bubbling their way out of the base of the glaciers and winding through spectacular meadows of brilliant wildflowers, finally disappearing over the crest of the ridge we had climbed the day before.

 I scrambled, gingerly, up on a small ridge above our camp and did a slow 360° look at the place that I was standing. I don’t believe I’ve ever stood in a more spectacular place on a more beautiful morning.

God’s Perfect Plan

Could it be, could it just be that this is what God had for me all along? Did I have the faith in God’s plan for my life to embrace this moment as the true goal of all my work and preparation? Or would the disappointment of not making it to the summit rob me of the richness of this moment?

In the end, if this was God’s great gift for me, if this was his plan all along to create this moment to commune with me, to open up to me the magnificence of his incredible creation, to spend this morning just with me in deep fellowship, if that was truly the purpose of all that I had prepared for, would that be enough? And that is the question that is put to us every day.

The Daily Challenge

We plan our journeys, we set our goals, we define success, and all these things are good. I make a living from strategic planning, so I live in a world of future goals and aspirational plans.

But in the end, if we lay our lives in God’s hands and trust that He has our very best at heart, if His vision for our future is the best possible, then as we pursue it obediently, can we ever be anything but grateful for the outcome? Or do we let the enemy rob us of the joys and blessings God has for us each day by always turning our gaze to the summit, to what we don’t have, to what we didn’t achieve, to where we felt like we came up short of our definitions of success and happiness?

Do we trust that God has our very best in mind, and are we willing not only to accept that, but to rejoice and glory in it? Is God’s provision for us, in the end, enough?

Grateful Disappointment

I came away from this experience understanding that amid deep disappointment. We find a better vision for our life if we trust that God has brought us to the place where we are, and has for us, right here, right now, all the blessings, joys, and happiness that He wants us to have.

What a tragedy it would have been if the disappointment of not having made it to the summit had ruined my day with him. In the end, I left that climb at peace, knowing that I had received all that God had for me. I discovered that strange place where deep gratitude and disappointment meet.

I pray that each of you may find that same sense of deep peace that leads to overwhelming gratitude for the place God has you exactly where you are, right now, today. Stop, look around, and be thankful.

R. Scott Rodin is the Senior Consultant/Chief Strategy Officer for The Focus Group. Over the past thirty-eight years, Scott Rodin has helped hundreds of organizations enhance their effectiveness in leadership, fundraising, strategic planning, and board development. His books and articles have been translated into over twenty languages, and he has taught and consulted with ministries across five continents. Scott also serves as a Senior Fellow of the Association of Biblical Higher Education and as board chair for ChinaSource

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