Maintaining the attitude while avoiding the slip into cynicism is sometimes tough however. I want to have a sense of hope; I don't want to feel negative and sarcastic. Still, when I focus on keeping my expectations low, I sometimes find myself in that very muck.
And so, I was grateful to come upon Oswald Chambers' reflections on the subject. The July 30th reading in My Utmost for His Highest is entitled "The Teaching of Disillusionment." Chambers considers a passage from the second chapter of John. Jesus is in Jerusalem for the Passover. While there, many people witnessed his miracles and believed in him. "But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person" (John 2:24-25). In other words, Jesus held no expectations about these people. He knew their nature and understood that many were drawn to him simply out of a fascination with his miracles. He knew that although they were following him today, they may abandon him tomorrow. And so, he simply did not let himself be vulnerable with these people. He didn't get angry. He didn't act or verbalize disappointment with them. He simply didn't "entrust himself" to them. He didn't embrace any illusions about the situation - he was disillusioned.
Here are the insightful words of Oswald Chambers:
Disillusionment means having no more misconceptions, false impressions, and false judgments in life; it means being free from these deceptions. However, though no longer deceived, our experience of disillusionment may actually leave us cynical and overly critical in our judgment of others. But the disillusionment that comes from God brings us to the point where we see people as they really are, yet without any cynicism or any stinging and bitter criticism. Many of the things in life that inflict the greatest injury, grief, or pain, stem from the fact that we suffer from illusions. We are not true to one another as facts, seeing each other as we really are; we are only true to our misconceived ideas of one another. According to our thinking, everything is either delightful and good, or it is evil, malicious, and cowardly.
Refusing to be disillusioned is the cause of much of the suffering of human life. And this is how that suffering happens - if we love someone, but do not love God, we demand total perfection and righteousness from that person, and when we do not get it we become cruel and vindictive; yet we are demanding of a human being something which he or she cannot possibly give. There is only one Being who can completely satisfy to the absolute depth of the hurting human heart, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord is so obviously uncompromising with regard to every human relationship because He knows that every relationship that is not based on faithfulness to Himself will end in disaster. Our Lord trusted no one, and never placed His faith in people, yet He was never suspicious or bitter. Our Lord's confidence in God, and in what God's grace could do for anyone, was so perfect that He never despaired, never giving up hope for any person. If our trust is placed in human beings, we will end up despairing of everyone.Don't refuse to be disillusioned as you carpe your diem!
