Thoughtful Thursday: Exalted Expectations - Denise Pass
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Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Proverbs 23:18
Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
Proverbs 10:28
The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.
Psalm 62:5
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.
Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Philippians 1:20
As it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
At the root of every heartbreak and every discouragement was once a hope or an expectation. Sometimes life feels like one big carrot thrust in front of us, full of promise. Then the carrot is taken away, like a big tease. What do we do then? Look for the next carrot, maybe? That next carrot might be even worse than the former one. What then?
God placed eternity in our hearts and placed us in this time and space, knowing our complete story. That brings comfort to my soul, but I sure wish at times that I could know what is coming up ahead. Well, at least I think I do. But in all honesty, if I had known some of the sorrows I was to face ahead of time, I do not know that I would have operated in the same grace as when those things unfolded. Fear would have likely gripped my heart and I would have tried to impede the suffering ahead of time. Probably would have complicated matters worse, instead of simply trusting God in all circumstances. Ironically, I would have potentially missed an even greater blessing that God had planned – I just could not see it in the middle of the carnage of fallen expectations.
If our hope is in some relief or escape from the pain of our expectations being crashed, that is a shallow hope compared to waiting to see what God is going to do with our mess. Instead of expecting everything to go our way, despite the fact that we are obviously impacted by every turn of this wild ride called life, what if we were, instead, to look eagerly to the LORD to see what He brings about?
Manipulating circumstances to avoid something terrible is attempting to operate as a god, and last I checked, that does not work out too well. Surrendering the idol of our expectations to God in submission to His will and plan is placing our lives in the hands of the one true living God – a much safer place than in the hands of fallible man.
I like to know where I am going and am not terribly fond of surprises. Bottom line – I think most of us probably prefer life to be problem-free, but that is not a likely scenario in a fallen world. What is known and certain is that God knows it all, and He is in control, even when everything seems out of control. Praise His Name!
Lord, thank You that You never abandon us. I am amazed at how You can take every situation, every circumstance and turn it around for your glory and our ultimate good. Help us to trust You while we wait on You. Thank You, Father, for not granting expectations that You know would ultimately harm us. You are good all the time and You are Sovereign – even when our expectations are unfulfilled.
