Expectations. We expect so much in our lives. We expect people to be nice to us. To wait on us at restaurants. To listen to us when speak. To treat us with respect. To keep their promises. Am I right? We expect so much without even realizing it sometimes.
Have you ever gone into a restaurant and had a terrible waiter? I have! There is a restaurant back home that I just absolutely love; I eat there every time I go home to visit (and sometimes I visit multiple times in one weekend!). It’s just that good! Well, a few weeks ago when I was in town I went. The waitress was a young girl I didn’t recognize. I know everyone who worked there because I’m in there so much. The service is always perfect! I don’t even have to order my drink; they just bring it to when they see me because everyone just knows! This new girl didn’t know what I wanted to drink, to eat, and was moving at the pace of a snail who was stopping to smell the roses on the way. I was getting very agitated to say the least. I had waited weeks to eat here and I was hungry! I was disappointed in the waitress. When I left, I stormed out of there angry.
Looking back this is so silly! Why had I gotten upset with waitress? Because I had expectations and she didn’t fulfill those up to my standards. Yes, it was just a meal and I over it as soon as I got back in my car. But it did make me think…how many times do I get let down or disappointed because my expectations were out of line. When do I put my expectations in something, only to be let down?
Now, expectations are not a bad thing, but also don’t get them confused with standards. This is tricky and sticky! It is a very fine line sometimes. Having expectations is not a bad…that’s not what I’m trying to say.
I have experienced that by putting my expectations in anything of this world has let me down. By putting your expectations in something of this world might be hard to comprehend, and you might not even know you do it. But here’s what it can look like: if you are in a relationship with a guy, you might expect him to do certain things for you, like send you a text every morning, having him call you at certain times throughout the day, always having him spend a certain amount of time with you, having him say those sweet, securing words. I feel like girls, including myself, get so caught up in these things before we know it, our expectations are fully and completely put into a guy. It can be so easy to do. They are here. They can give us a hug, say something sweet to comfort us. Why not put our expectations in them? They make us happy! They bring joy! But what happens when we are not having a good day and they don’t see it. They don’t respond how we want them too. (I mean, be for real girls, we can’t expect guys to read our minds and emotions when most of the time we don’t even exactly know what we are feeling!) They let us down. They don’t give us the satisfaction we need, the comfort we want, the love we desire, the joy we long for.
But it’s okay! They shouldn’t be the ones that our hearts lean toward for those things. Who should our expectations be in? Jesus Christ! When our hearts are turned toward Him, He is our everything! When our expectations are in Him, He won’t fail us! There is great rejoicing and encouragement and peace in that. He gives us that satisfaction we need, the comfort we want, the love we desire, the joy we long for! And the crazy part is that He wants to do that for us! He wants to be loved and desired by us! He is just waiting for us to run to Him; waiting with His arms opened and smiling when we realize that worldly things don’t satisfy us and we desire Him!
It isn’t always easy. Sometimes (most of the time for me) it is so easy to say and even pray. But actually getting your heart to that point, the point of fully desiring Christ and putting our expectations in Him and nothing/no one else, can be so difficult. I wish I could give you steps to follow to get your heart to that point, I really do! But the truth is, I am dealing with it daily. Every hour (literally) I am having to just pray and surrender my heart to Jesus. Praying that He is my one desire. Praying that He is my love. Praying that my expectations are in Him alone.
A very wonderful, sweet, and loving cousin of mine once told me (it was almost a year ago when she told me this, but I’m just now starting to understand what she meant): “When our expectations are in something not of Christ, it will fail us; it will, without a doubt. When our expectations are in Christ, He will never fail us. Never. Ever. He will never fail us!”
Humbly yours,
His servant
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