Expectations
Expectations
I’d just finished reading a riveting little book on prayer and couldn’t wait to tell my husband about it.
As Ken helped me to bed that evening, I began excitedly to recount the new concepts and ideas that had throbbed in my thoughts all day long.
Naturally, I expected him to be as excited as I was.
He wasn’t.
I’m not saying he yawned or nodded off as words of wisdom poured from my mouth. But then again, he wasn’t sitting wide-eyed and awe-struck on the edge of the bed, either. He was … polite. Interested … but casual.
Well, that did it! I clammed up and had nothing more to say for the next hour. Finally, he noticed my cold shoulder and asked what the matter was. After a bit of coaxing I let it all spill out in tears.
That really got to him!
“Oh, Ken, you just don’t understand,” I told him. “I was so hoping you’d feel about these things—this book—like I do. I was so hoping you’d be as excited as I was.”
I have to admit that Ken was kind and understanding—a little frustrated with me, but interested in talking it all out.
We both decided I had a problem with expectations. For that matter, so does he on occasion. Especially when I don’t come unglued over how many fish he’s snagged on his fishing trips. But he said something during that conversation that’s really stuck with me.
“Joni, if I met all of your expectations, you wouldn’t need God.”
There’s a lot of truth in that, isn’t there? If our spouses were all we expected them to be, we wouldn’t feel much inclination to depend on the Lord.
The Bible talks about expectations in Micah 7:
Put no confidence in a friend. Even with her who lies in your embrace.… But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD (vv. 5, 7).
Elsewhere God’s Word talks about not putting our trust in horses or chariots or princes. It’s so easy to do that, to let expectations build.
But God doesn’t want us to substitute anything or anybody for Him. Not pastors or teachers, boyfriends or girlfriends, or even husbands or wives.
So if your expectations have been crushed recently, and you’re disappointed, fearful that this person just isn’t all you had hoped he or she would be, maybe it’s just God’s way of reminding you to put your confidence in the Holy One.
He is able to meet your expectations. And unlike your husband, wife, or close friends … He’s perfect.