And King David is not an anomaly. Most every major Bible personality experienced periods of disappointment and hardship, most of which would make our problems seem a bit trivial. The interesting point is that the Bible writers decided not to gloss over these hardships, but to show them in all their ugliness. Perhaps this is somewhat cultural. I believe westerners tend to be more "positive thinkers" with a "you can do anything" mentality.
I love the website www.despair.com. They create "demotivators", which are a tongue-in-cheek slam on those motivational posters featuring a whale or an eagle soaring. Here's a description that I pulled from their site:
AT DESPAIR, INC., we believe motivational products create unrealistic expectations, raising hopes only to dash them. That's why we created our soul-crushingly depressing Demotivators® designs, so you can skip the delusions that motivational products induce and head straight for the disappointments that follow!
Maybe I've got a cocked sense of humor (probably!), but I love the honesty!
Seriously, we have to face up to the fact that things don't always turn out just the way we want. And when we are in those places during our lives and ministries, we need to be able to talk honestly about it. God can handle it, we think others can't.
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