23 February 2013

Thirty Day Challenge – Day Five – Expectations

Greetings Dear Reader,

“Father, please show me my sin.”

How often do we go into a situation expecting things to turn out in a particular way?  Then when it does not we are disappointed.  I do this so often without realizing just how wrong it is.  I place expectations on people and God far too often.  There are expectations that are healthy.  If someone tells me they will do something it is not wrong to expect them to do it.  It is a just expectation to count on God to keep his promises.

Where this gets dangerous for me is when I expect God to do things the way I want or when I expect people to act the way I think they should act.  I will place an expectation on someone else then get angry when they do not do what I expect them to do.  This is so unjust and unloving.  Worse still is when I expect God to work things out the way I wish him to and then am disappointed or angry when he does not.

God has made it clear that following him is just the opposite.  I am to have no expectations of others but to love them where they are in the moment.  Too often I expect others to act in the way I would act.  That always proceeds from pride and arrogance.

I have a friend who went into a hard situation expecting very specific things from God.  When things did not turn out the way he expected he began to question his faith and not is very far from following Christ.  Instead of seeing the beauty and grace in what he did accomplish he blamed God for not meeting his expectations. 

To do this to people or God is unjust and harms my ability to love others and meet them where they are on the journey.  It keeps me from seeing who God is in light of everything that is unfolding.  Expectations keep my vision to narrow and my faith too small.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."

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