Wait until Next Year!

“Wait until next year!”
I suppose Rockies’ fans have been mouthing these words since last night’s decisive loss to the Red Sox. However, no words compensate for the agony of being swept in a World Series showdown. It is almost inexplicable to account for four losses in a row in the World Series by a team that had previously won 21 out of 22 games. We can chalk up the disaster only to the Red Sox’s better pitching and better batting.
It’s time to move on. The Broncos are playing today on Monday Night Football.
Disappointment often punctures a perfectly good day or series of days, and deflates our hopes—and sometimes our sense of self-worth. Second Kings 19 depicts the prophet Elijah as so disappointed in himself that he asked the Lord to take away his life. He had previously championed God’s cause and restored a nation’s faith by exposing the futility of Baal worship and spotlighting the power of the true God. But this event had infuriated sadistic Queen Jezebel, who had imported Baal worship to Israel. She immediately put a contract on Elijah, predicting he would be dead in 24 hours. That’s when Elijah’s faith took a hike; and so did Elijah. He fled the country, continued through Judah to the south, sat down exhausted and depressed under a broom tree in the desert, where he prayed for a quick end to his life.
But God doesn’t give up on His people, even when we give up on ourselves. He revealed Himself to Elijah in a “still, small voice,” and gave him new assignments. Disappointments may be ideal times to anticipate His appointments. When we are at the end of ourselves, we can see new beginnings. Elijah left his one-man pity party in the desert and embraced new opportunities to serve God.
The fact that we are still breathing proves God hasn’t given up on us. We can serve Him today. We don’t have to mope around and wait until next year for another opportunity to serve Him.