Miscalculation

Think back to when you were younger and the expectations you had of what your life would be like when you were a grown up. Maybe you sit there and you wonder where you have gone wrong or you feel like you are not worth enough because you “aren’t successful enough.” What about the expectations you have of God and what He should be doing for you? Have you ever been so frustrated because maybe what you had expected of God didn’t turn out as planned and because it did not go that way it led you astray? What about the expectations you had of what your husband would be like or even what motherhood would turn out to be? Have you ever really thought about how our expectations can hinder our present. How somehow this magical list of things you thought life would be is robbing you of your present joy.

It isn’t that your expectations were wrong, but if you keep expecting these expectations instead of living in your moment of present joy you are only robbing yourself. No, it isn’t wrong to still have expectations of what you expect from your spouse like help with the kids, help around the house etc. but these unrealistic moments like the movies portray are: He didn’t get me flowers today, He didn’t say he loved me the third time he called me today, My kids only took an hour nap instead of 2. It does not take big expectations like this that can effect your joy. It is in the mundane moments where you see how blessed you are. Life isn’t about the Facebook/Instagram moments, it’s in the daily things that you realize how much love you are truly blessed with. It is not always our situation that needs to change but our perspective.

“Humility opens the door to the kingdom, and pride keeps it closed.”

Douglas Sean O’Donnell

Just because God may have said no to something you really wanted doesn’t mean He is not faithful and He isn’t good, it just means that He has something better in mind. This is when we need to shift our perspective, to spend time in His word. His word is the light that will light your way. Resisting the chance to the change your perspective only hurts you. Changing our perspective does not happen overnight, it comes over time. It comes with living with what’s in the present not the past or what we hope the future might hold. When we are living in the world of our expectations we are telling God what we have is not enough. You are allowing what the world tells you is valuable and worthy to seep into your heart. When we have been living in our expectations we have been spending too much time in what concerns the flesh not what nurtures our hearts.

“God will show us the way he works so we can live the way we were made.” Lisa Bevere

Adamant: Finding Truth In A Universe Of Opinions. Lisa Bevere, pg.48. Revell Publishing,2018.

You know the one place you can go to find joy, the one place that will feel your heart with so much thankfulness, grace and love? It’s the Bible. His word can give you perseverance while you shift your perspective. His word changes the way you look at things, the way your heart receives. His word is the only everlasting change there is. If you have been living in the magical world of your expectations, come back to your here and now and embrace what He has given you. Find ways to be grateful for what you have. Find the goodness in the mundane simple things in life. Embrace the small moments because one day they will be the big ones.