I have felt led to write about expectations for the past week, but as I put my hands on the keyboard nothing was flowing. That is until I thought about Beck.
She’s only 29. All of the plans she had are now in jeopardy. She could be gone…tomorrow.
As I write this, my sister-in-law Becky is fighting for her life. She has a very rare form of cancer. Her body is hooked up to monitors, cables, modules and tubes. For the past couple of nights, there has been the chance that she may not make it through the night. I’m confident this isn’t what Becky was looking forward to when she looked ahead to what her years may hold. I’m sure she imagined being there for her daughter Vanessa’s first date. I can see her with her hand to her pursed lips as Nessa drove out of the driveway when she left for her freshman year of college. There are so many other things that are now uncertain.
I’m also thinking of the parents who found out they were expecting their first child. Oh, the expectations! They were looking forward to a future filled with playing basketball in the driveway or proper tea parties at high noon on the lawn dressed in the most proper attire. Parents so desiring to watch their child grow up into an adult. But there was a complication while giving birth. The child they are now holding, the one they have been hopeful in seeing mature, is now severely handicapped for life.
There is a myriad of expectations that we have that for one reason or another are never met.
What do you do when your hopes don’t materialize? What to do when your dreams fade away?
There’s a story in scripture that shows what could happen when expectations don’t seem to be coming the way you would like. The following is taken from the book of Genesis in the Bible starting in Chapter 12.
Sarai and Abram had trouble waiting on God’s promises to them. They desperately wanted a family. After 85 years of a home with no giggles from children or scuff marks on the stone floor from a playful afternoon, Sarai grew restless. She wanted to cradle her own child in her arms. So much so that she tried to circumvent God’s plan and make things happen on her own. That only made things worse.
“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. – Genesis 15:1b
Thirteen years after that when Abram was 99 years old God again appeared to him with a demand and a message. God demanded that Abram walk a blameless life and promised him that within one year his wife would bear him a son. Sure enough, Abram obeyed and God “delivered” on His promise.
So what do you do when your expectations aren’t met? Do you act like Sarai and Abram did at first and try and handle it yourself? Or do you trust that God will deliver? It’s not easy to wait for God’s timing. It’s not easy accepting that things may not happen in the timeline you prefer, or even at all.
Trusting that God is our shield and our very great reward is often all we can do.
When it appears that the expectations we have set up are not being met, often we may feel like there is no hope, that everything is over. That’s not how God operates. He doesn’t operate like you or I do. God carries on with His beautiful plan for us, no matter what stumbles across our path. We often have trouble seeing past the detour in our path when it’s placed in front of us.
Everything in me will celebrate when you speak what is right. Don’t envy sinners, but always continue to fear the Lord. You will be rewarded for this; your hope will not be disappointed. My child, listen and be wise: Keep your heart on the right course. – Proverbs 23:16-19
I’m not sure how everything will turn out with Beck. The expectations she once held for her life here may not happen. If by a miracle only from God she pulls through and continues her journey here with us, To God Be The Glory! We will rejoice with her! But if they don’t, how glorious it will be for her to be with our Savior in the home He has prepared for her?! That will be so much greater than any earthly expectation that isn’t realized here. How can we not trust our God who loves us so much that he allowed EVERY, SINGLE condemning sin of the world throughout eternity to be placed on His Son’s shoulders and allowed him to die for us? I’m choosing to place my trust in His divine wisdom and not any current situation or disappointment I may find myself in.
