The answer is no! And stop asking, or you’re going to find yourself in big, big trouble, young man!

It can be very frustrating when a door is slammed in our face, especially when we are convinced that the opportunity we seek is good for us! I just want to serve … why won’t you let me?

How do you deal with disappointment in your life? How do you react when your best laid plans don’t work out? A great American soldier experienced many disappointments and doors that seemed to be slammed in his face. All he wanted to do was fight for his country, and he kept being told no. His career path holds a valuable lesson for all of us.

Never forget, if you are in God’s family, there is always a point to disappointment.

The soldier in this story was a good ol’ American boy—let’s call him Joe. Joe grew up poor in Abilene, Kansas in the 1890s. His father was a poor farmer, so Joe didn’t get too many opportunities early in life, but when he was old enough, his father gave him and each of his five brothers small portions of land on his farm; these small plots were for the boys to tend to, and they were allowed to keep any profit from what they grew.

Joe desperately wanted to go to college, but even with the profit he earned from his small, yet productive garden plot, he couldn’t afford tuition. He learned that if he joined the military, he could get a college education for free. After some research, he set his heart set on being in the Navy. But the Navy told him no. Rejection. Disappointment. So he applied to the Army, and he was accepted as a cadet at West Point.

As a teenager, I had a very clear plan of who I wanted to be when I grew up. I knew exactly what job I was going to have. I knew where I was going to live. As a young adult, I even thought I knew who I was going to marry. I had it all planned out! But God often has very different plans for us than we make for ourselves. His plans are always better; we just can’t always see it right away.

Back to Joe: He did well at West Point, especially as a leader on the football team. He wasn’t the top of the class, but he also exhibited some character traits and talents that put him on the radar of the Army brass.

He was transferred to Texas where he met his future wife, Mary. She was from a very wealthy, respected family—a very different upbringing to Joe. Nonetheless, they loved each other, and with the approval of her family, got engaged. At the same time, Joe had learned about a new Air Division that the Army was developing, and the idea of being a pilot enamored Joe—this was a new desire of his heart. He applied for a transfer to the Air Division, and was delighted to share with his future in-laws that his transfer had been accepted! He was going to be a pilot! To his dismay, his future father-in-law didn’t share in Joe’s enthusiasm; he had a great distrust of planes and had no interest in seeing his daughter become a young widow. Joe would have to choose—the planes or Mary. He chose Mary, and he was happy to choose her, but he was also a bit disappointed that this new ambition crashed before it could get off the ground.

World War I broke out, and like a good soldier, Joe deeply desired to go to Europe and fight for America. He had an excellent record, so he thought he would be a shoo-in for a combat unit, but his repeated requests for transfer were denied every time. He didn’t give up though. He kept requesting to be transferred again and again—so many times that he was told “No! And stop asking, or you’re going to be in big, big trouble, young man!”

Instead of seeing combat, Joe was sent to Maryland to work closely with a young officer named George Patton on a special project. But Joe and George weren’t even directly supporting the war effort. The Army tasked them with developing strategies and tactics for a new weapon the Army was developing—the armored tank. At the time, it seemed like there was no future for this cumbersome, ungainly weapon. For Joe, this assignment in Maryland was another dead-end—another disappointment.

All he wanted to do was fight! He felt that was the best way he could serve, and he couldn’t understand why he was being held back and sidelined. Nonetheless, he diligently applied himself to each assignment he was given, and the Army was very pleased with what he accomplished.

Surely Joe had earned a chance to get into the thick of things. All he wanted to do was be in the action. But it wasn’t meant to be. For his next assignment, he was put in charge of a group of Army engineers tasked with traveling across the length of America to test out the Army’s transportation and logistical capabilities. Joe actually really enjoyed this assignment, but again, it didn’t seem to be leading anywhere. It felt like an un-important side project, secondary to his main goal to serve in a combat unit. He had a clear goal of what he wanted to do in the Army, but it seemed the leadership was holding him back at every turn.

To add further insult, his next assignment was essentially military exile. He and his wife were sent to the military installation at the Panama Canal. It was little better than camping; his wife was miserable. The only bright spot was the friendship he formed with Brig. Gen. Fox Connor—an influential officer who awakened a deep love for military history and strategy in Joe. But even with the great friend he made, the Panama assignment was another wrong turn in his career—another disappointment.

Fox Connor saw great potential in Joe and used his influence to help him get into the War College for officer training. Going back to school wasn’t incredibly appealing to Joe, but he knew that the further training and having Connor as his mentor could open more doors for him. So he committed to this new opportunity, even if it seemed to be another speed bump in his career path.

After he graduated, the Army gave him two choices: he could get a job working in the thick of things with the Army Chief of Staff, or he could travel to France to study WWI battlefields and edit official military guidebooks. Joe really wanted to work with the Chief of Staff; that seemed like the clearest route to combat and the frontlines. But after the miserable stint in Panama, he felt that he owed his wife. Once again, he sacrificed his personal ambitions and took the position as military historian in France.

How many times have you faced disappointment? How many times have you watched someone else get the exciting opportunity instead of you? How many times have you earnestly desired something, only for the door to be slammed in your face? Joe had a few bright spots along his career path, but on the whole, his military career to this point had not turned out how he expected it. He felt that he hadn’t achieved his goals. He felt that the military leadership had it out for him and didn’t want to give him the opportunities that he felt he was best suited for.

But what Joe didn’t know is that very early on in his military career, several top officers saw tremendous potential in him and began keeping an eye on him. Joe thought they didn’t like him; he didn’t realize that they were testing him. They saw leadership potential in him, and they were giving him training he didn’t know he needed. They were also testing his patience and resolve—would he work hard and embrace any opportunity, no matter how difficult?

He passed their tests and showed his character, and when the time came for his big door to open, he was ready.

Now, I’ve been a little bit dishonest up to this point. You see, Joe’s name wasn’t Joe. “Joe” was really Ike.

Dwight D. Eisenhower. The Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces. The big burrito. The most powerful general in the entirety of World War II. When it came time for him to be promoted to that role—above others who thought perhaps they deserved it more—he had more than proved his capabilities, and he had been perfectly prepared for the unique demands of his generalship.

When he was denied a chance to join the combat in WWI, his life was likely preserved. With Patton in Maryland, he learned the value of tanks and how to use them effectively. With the Army engineers, he learned about supply chain and transportation logistics. From Fox Connor in Panama, he learned the value of studying military history and learning from great generals. From working on military guidebooks in France, he became intimately acquainted with the geography and terrain of France—the nation on whose shores he would lead the D-Day invasion.

It is only with hindsight that you will be able to connect the dots in your life. All of those closed doors and all of those disappointments in Ike’s life were not what they appeared. It was only once he achieved that pinnacle in his career that everything else made sense. He had been perfectly prepared for the task that lay ahead of him.

Dwight Eisenhower was a carnal man being prepared for a physical job—and a terrible, bloody job at that. Yet God helped prepare that man to assist in saving Western Civilization from a prophesied resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire.

If God would guide and prepare him, how much more is He guiding and preparing you?

Jesus Christ promised that He is preparing an office for you. And He will prepare you for that office! You can’t know yet what that pinnacle of your life will be, apart from a future role in God’s family government. You won’t be able to connect the dots until you can look back on your life with some hindsight. You must have faith that God is in control, and that He’s putting you exactly where you need to be to learn the lessons and develop the skills to be able to serve in the office He’s handcrafting for you.

Eisenhower thought he was being held back, but he was actually being groomed for leadership. He thought his goals were being ignored, but he was actually being prepared for the greatest opportunity of his life—the one that would fulfill all of his dreams.

Our goal is eternal. Our goal is incorruptible. It isn’t glory on the battlefield. It isn’t a victory over other men. Our goal is helping to establish the Kingdom of God on this earth and serving in the very government of God under our King Jesus Christ.

When God is in control of your life, there is always a point to disappointment. You just have to have patience and vision. Embrace every stop along the way. Wholeheartedly serve in each assignment put in front of you. Trust that God is intentionally training you for your future position. If God did it for Ike, he will undoubtedly do it for you.