Expectations

What are our expectations of God? If you are a follower of Christ, do you have a list of things that you expect from Him? We talked about this in our small group at church yesterday and some of the answers were things that all of us have probably thought about...things like a certain type of lifestyle, a certain level of protection for our loved ones, meeting our "needs" and if we are completely honest we would probably throw in a few of our wants as well. Heathly children was at the top of my list, seriously don't we expect that from God?  I know I did...I had a picture in my mind of the perfect family and it certainly did not include Cerebral Palsy or seizures or severe developmental delays.  I am not proud of myself I am just being honest, I had/have a list of expectations that I expected from God in order for me to live the life I think I deserved.   Yikes...that's a lot of I's...looks like I think it's all about me.

It seems so easy to get caught up in all the things I think I deserve living in the age in which we live.  This age of entitlement and selfishness and instant gratification.  We have placed a Holy God right in the middle of our "right now, my way" type of thinking.  We have reduced Him to some kind of genie granting wishes.  How about a different perspective?  How about we expect God to be exactly who He has told us He is?  Christ never told us to "take up our cross," follow Him and we would never experience difficulty, hurt or hard times.  In fact James 1:2 says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds..." not if you face trials but when you face trials.  As our Pastor likes to say, you're either coming out of a trial, currently in a trial or fixing to be in one...friends we've got some stuff going on.

How about we expect God to be God?  His Word tells us He is loving, forgiving, faithful, strong and powerful.  These are just some of the things we can expect from God, because He has shown us who He is.

Psalm 136:1, "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.  His love is eternal."

Matthew 26:28, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."

Psalm 108:4, "For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the sky."

Psalm 24:8, "Who is this King of Glory?  The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle."

Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God to bring salvation to everyone who believes..."

Dare we trust that the plan the Lord has for us is better than than plan we have for the short term future we think we can see before us?  Dare we give up whatever perceived control we think we have?  Because it is just that...perceived.  When we expect God to come in and "fix" everything, then we are tying our happiness and our joy to our circumstances.  We can trust God and we can expect Him to be exactly who He says He is.  In that moment, in that trust, in that "resting in Him," there is freedom.  There is freedom from the burden and the worry, there is a contentment in our circumstances, there is joy in our heart and in our home again.

It's not a lowering of expectations, it's not giving up on hope, it's a change of perspective.  Instead of continuously trying to force and bend God to our will which is impossible, let's line our life up with His will.  

It can be a beautiful thing.