2 Samuel 7:12-13: “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your
seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a
house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”
Two paraplegics were in the news at about the same time. Kenneth Wright, 24, was a high school
football star and later an avid wrestler. A broken neck sustained in a wrestling match in 1979 left
him paralyzed from the chest down.
The former athlete prevailed upon two friends to take him in his wheelchair to a wooded area
where they left him alone with a twelve-gauge shotgun. After they left, he committed suicide.
The second paraplegic was Jim McGowan. At the age of 19, Jim was stabbed and also left
paralyzed from his chest down. But he made news when he successfully completed a parachute
jump. Jim lives alone, cooks his meals, washes his clothes and cleans his house.
He has written three books, and he did the photography for America’s first book on the history of
wheelchair sports. Two men with major disappointments: one chose to view life positively, the
other didn’t.
David also had a major disappointment. He had his heart set on building a house for the Lord. But
God said no. David could not, but his son Solomon would. David chose to respond to that
disappointment by focusing on the positive. He thanked and praised God for the good things He
was going to do in his life and that of his family (2 Sam. 7:18-29).
Disappointments always give us a choice. We can concentrate on what’s wrong, or we can find
the silver lining. One way leads to despair, the other to fulfillment.
Are you focusing on the negative? Look instead at the way God is blessing you in spite of that
disappointment. See His hand of good in everything that happens to you—even if it’s different from
what you planned.
WHAT YOU FOCUS ON IS WHAT YOU GET