What Did You Expect?

I don’t really enjoy online shopping, even though it can be very convenient when I know what I want.  But much of the time I am gift-shopping, meaning that I invest hours trying to decide what is the most wanted or needed item.  Free shipping definitely impacts my decisions as many of these gifts are for out-of-state family.  In fact, free shipping has become my motivation to sacrifice time online that I would rather spend elsewhere.  So, imagine my frustration when I finally arrive at the check-out, only to realize I missed the fine print on free shipping exceptions and exclusions, and the items in my cart don’t qualify.  To punish them for giving me false expectations, I delete everything in my cart and drive to a store.

Life is ripe with dashed expectations.  Until the Lord called me out on it, I didn’t realize that I had expectations about almost everything.  I expect a red light to turn green, not to get stuck on permanent red.  When it does turn green, I expect the car in front of me to go, and not continue with phone distractions.  Those are frustrating nuisances.  Much more serious is when I expect God to show up or to answer my prayers in certain ways that I believe demonstrate His love and watch-care, but then He doesn’t.  I have discovered I am not alone in that.

One of the saddest historical examples of errant expectations was when the Israelites presumed upon their favored status with God that He would overlook their disobedience and save Jerusalem and Judah from Babylonian destruction. Even though God was clear in all His warnings, they didn’t believe it until friends and family were slaughtered before their eyes and the city with their prized temple was burned. Next came the assassination of the Babylonian-appointed Israelite governor by a group of renegade Israelite warriors.  In retaliation, another band of fighters pursued and scattered the first, taking leadership of the fearful remnant of people. Although they asked Jeremiah for a Word from God regarding what they should do, they rejected God’s command to stay in the land, serve the Babylonian king, and wait for God’s restoration.  Fear ruled their decision to leave Israel to find safety in Egypt, which was actually their death certificate.  This was a detrimental one-two punch of fear working with wrong expectations of God that only served to strengthen their fear and confusion.

How many times have we succumbed to the same thing?  A loved one dies that we expected God to heal.  An abusive parent or spouse continues to get by with it.  A false accusation sticks.  Injustice seems to prevail in court.  Stretched finances are further attacked.  Aren’t our lives supposed to be favored and blessed because we are children of God?

Our assumptions and presumptions belie the fact that we have neglected the pursuit of knowing God intimately.  If we truly revered Him by practicing the Fear of the Lord, we would not expect Him to answer all our prayers like a genie in a bottle granting wishes.  We would not accuse God of favoritism when He does not do for us what we’ve witnessed Him doing for others.  Father sees the big picture of His unfolding plan, and also knows us better than we know ourselves.  He will not give us what would ultimately be harmful.  He knows when we won’t listen to reason, but must “discover” truth on our own.  He also knows that the lessons we learn the hard way are those we won’t soon forget.  For those of us more stubborn types, He gives us the time and space to come to the end of ourselves so that we can understand our need for Him.  In all these loving parental ways, God repeatedly dashes our expectations of how He will meet our needs.  Instead, He gives us what is best.

Like the Israelites who because of fear could not trust God’s Word to save them through unlikely means, God gives us what we need to learn the importance of placing our expectations in His Person, not what He does. “The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him.”  “Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. ³³ For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone.” (Lamentations 3:25, 32-33)