In Luke 24 the disciples on the road to Emmaus were full of disappointment and grief. Their dream had gone and notice this - they left the very place Jesus told them to stay and wait for empowerment. In other words, they totally let go of their vision and dream, and as they walked to Emmaus they saw Jesus. They didn't even recognise him. See, grief and disappointment will blind you to what God is doing, you can't see it. You actually are just - all you want to do is go back where you feel comfortable, what's familiar again. I feel God speaking to many people about that right now. Going back to what's familiar, what's comfortable, what's secure is not the answer. You have to deal with the issue, and so Jesus helped them deal with the issue. This is what He did. He talked to them and drew out their feelings, the pain and disappointment and disheartenment. He drew out their dreams and what they were, and then He adjusted the dreams, and adjusted their thinking, and put fresh hope back in them again.
So if we're faced with a situation where there is disappointment, at the end of the day, the first thing you've got to do is just acknowledge how deep the disappointment is. I've found because I'm a quite motivated person, that often when disappointments come I don't acknowledge them as I ought to, or as quickly as I ought to, and they just sit in my heart. Then I feel the loss of energy, and eventually I come and push into God, then it starts to come out in a deep grief, and you actually have to let grief go. There's a process to release grief. To think Christians don't have grief is foolish. We have it, and to pretend it's not there, to try and tough it out, that's not God's answer. God's answer is to take the griefs and sorrows of our heart, acknowledge them, feel them and just let them go, then look at the believing, what thinking is in behind it? Sometimes we need to make some changes, so the remedy then, if there are disappointments, number one is resolution of the pain, and number two is refocusing your life again. So when Jesus faced the disciples with their disappointments, this is what He did. He helped them express it and resolve it, then put fresh vision in them, and they went back with a new life, a new hope again. You could do that. I know you could do that.
Sometimes you have to adjust personally. It's not going to be like before, and that can be a grief. Sometimes you have hopes and dreams, and then it seems it changes, not the way you thought it would work out. You have to be willing to let go, and let God change you on the inside, as you deal with the grief. Sometimes you've got to change your plan. Sometimes you have to change your expectations.
There may be people here today, I can feel in the spirit now, and there's been delay and you've got discouraged or there's been disappointment and you've become disheartened. God wants to help you today. He will help you. You've just got to acknowledge it. Just acknowledge what's happened. If the problem is delay, go and meditate in the word of God, get your hope back and faith back in God, God is faithful. So begin to meditate in the promises of God, speak the promises of God, and do what you need to do to get where you need to go. If there's disappointment, take the time to get alone with God and acknowledge the pain, acknowledge the grief, and then adjust your life again around this change.
Why don't we just close our eyes right now. Holy Spirit, come. Holy Spirit, come. Spirit of God, fall upon the church. Just while our eyes are closed and heads are bowed, if you're here today and don't know Jesus Christ, this is a great day to receive Him, to receive Him as a friend, to receive Him as a Saviour, allow His spirit to come into your life and heart. Jesus loves you, and died on the cross for you, so you could actually enter into a life walking with God, free from sin, free from pressure of demonic curses, able to walk into the destiny God has for you - but it does require decision to respond. If that's you today, and you want to come to Christ, give your life to Christ, please just raise your hand wherever you are. I'd love to lead you in a prayer to receive Jesus. Anyone here today? I wonder just while I was talking, I felt the spirit of God start to come on the issue of discouragement and disappointment, and if that's you today, rather than just do nothing, it's not really about us praying for you. It's actually more about you make a decision to acknowledge actually there's been delays, and I've become discouraged. I need to acknowledge it, and come back and represent myself to the Lord again, come back into a place of faith, patience, enduring and walking out the dream.