03-14-2021 Kevin Goins - The Enemy of Disappointment

“Fourth Sunday of Lent:  The Enemy of Disappointment” 
Psalm 107
Psalm 107 begins as a call to worship and to give thanks to the Lord.  It then turns to a very detailed examination of the causes of disappointment.  Fortunately, however, it also includes a repeated emphasis on how we can deal with disappointment.                  

I First, disappointment is u_________________ (107:2-3).

A. We are raised to believe that happiness comes by m______________ and accomplishing goals, but the truth is, accomplishing goals c________________ protect us from disappointment. 

B. The American novelist John Cheever said, “The main emotion of the adult American who has had all the advantages of wealth, education, and culture is ________________________.” 

II Second, disappointment comes in all s____________ and s_________________ (107:4-32).

A. First, we see people who remind us that being l_____________ is a terrible disappointment (107:4-9).

1. There are young people who know exactly where they want to end up, but they have no idea how to g___________ there.

2. There are people who think they know where they want to go, but midway through their life journey they realize that they are not h_________________.

3. If you are lost in a dangerous place, the key to survival hinges on one thing:  k_______________ and a_________________ that you are lost. 

B. Second, we see people who remind us that being b_________________ is a terrible disappointment (107:10-16).

1. The U.S. has the _________________ incarceration rate in the world.

2. We can be bound in many ways:  h__________, addictions, l__________, sins, fears, and unhealthy r_______________________________.

C. Third, we see people who remind us that being s_______________ is a terrible disappointment (107:17-22).

1. The Bible makes it clear that sometimes sickness comes to people as a p_____________________ for sin.

2. But the book of J____________ and the words of Jesus in J___________ chapter ______ make it clear that sometimes sickness is not caused by sin.

3. Sickness can bring about all sorts of disappointment:

a. We can be sick because we have sinned, and when we realize that we are to blame, we feel disappointed in o_________________________.

b. Sickness, if we feel we do not deserve it, can make us feel disappointed with _____________.

c. We can come to God and ask him to heal us, but if we are not healed, we experience what is perhaps the g__________________ disappointment of all.

D. Fourth, we see people who remind us that d_______________________ can fill us with disappointment (107:23-32).

1. The disaster which the Psalmist describes here is obviously s_______________, but that isn’t the only kind of disaster that can assail us.

2. The fact is, no life is s____________ from disaster and that can fill us, not only with f___________, but with disappointment that life will never be able to guarantee our safety. 

III Third, it does not matter whether we have done anything to d______________________ disappointment or not.

A. In the second and third vignettes, the victims were r________________________ for what happened to them.

B. In the first and fourth vignettes, the victims did n__________________ wrong. 

IV Finally, the only hope we have in the face of the disappointments of life is that God will h________________ us when we c___________________.