Book Review: Dealing with Disappointment

There are times in your life where you face so much disappointment – when isn’t there a time where you aren’t disappointed. John Hindley, pastor at BroadGrace church in the UK, talks about how we as Christians can not only see and take note of disappointment, but assuage it. And how does he suggest doing this? Looking to our hope as Christians

In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, I picked up this book from my shelf - one I bought two years ago at a Women's convention - and finally began to read it. And it's so relatable! Whilst our normal lives are cancelling right before our eyes, we can have sure and certain hope that something better is coming.

The book can be confronting, because we, as sinners, tend to get disappointment wrong all the time. He highlights that we should be disappointed: "God created the world to be very good, but it is not what it should be. It is disappointing" (pg.15). He notes that Jesus himself felt very disappointed here on Earth. But he also recognises that we can be overly disappointed, or "weep as the world" (pg.22). We can be crushed by our disappointment, whilst Jesus never was. Even worse, we can be "disappointed about things we really shouldn't be disappointed about at all."(pg.24). And, just when we seem to have all we want or need in life, "Our satisfaction drains away and all we're left with is the emptiness of disappointment" (pg.26).

He focuses in on five different areas of our lives where we suffer the most disappointment - our situation, success, ministry, ourselves, and God. And he reminds us to look to the very basis of our Christian faith: that Jesus died and rose again - defeating sin and the disappointment of this life - and he will come back, restoring the earth to perfection. And there will be no more tears or crying. No more dissatisfaction or groaning from the sin of the world.

Hindley says this in his book:

"Remember that your disappointment will end. It will be swept away by the coming of the risen Christ. God himself will come and live with us. There is no disappointment in him - he is always more than we could ever imagine. There is joy in him - more than we could even dream." (pg.138)

This book really is a gem. It is less than 150 pages long and sums up disappointment in an outstanding way. Not only is it comforting, it is encouraging. Hindley's writing style is artistic, engaging yet simple and straightforward. As it is, there are so many quotes in this book that you will want to highlight/write notes on. Its practicality is also incredibly helpful. I strongly recommend any Christian, especially right now, to consider reading this book - it will be of great encouragement.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of the book, Koorong has a copy of the book here. Alternatively, if you would prefer not to go in-store at this time, and would rather it delivered, Reformer's Bookshop is offering the book at the same price as Koorong + free shipping , find it here.