This morning as I walked down our country road—my favorite thinking and praying time—I thought about expectations. So often, our lives become dull or difficult because we haven’t taken the time to consider our expectations.
When we are honest with ourselves about what we expect of a situation, we are halfway to accepting it and dealing with it. But if we deny the possible/probable realities, life can become burdensome.
The key is that the Lord keeps giving us grace as we ask for it and are willing to accept it. Not in truckloads, but in teaspoonsful. Grace isn’t something we can stockpile. I think the reason is that God wants us to be dependent on Him. Every day. Every hour. While we can do nothing of ourselves, we can do everything God asks us to as we depend on Him.
What do we expect from life? From our writing? From God? If we truly wish to please God, we need to suit our expectations to God’s will and listen for the Spirit’s guidance. We need to be flexible (a difficult concept for me to put into practice).
I want to live in honest expectation of what God has for me each day, whether it’s in my writing or my family life, because that’s when life goes from humdrum to exciting.
Delighted (as always) to read your devotional this morning, Janice. In my reading for today (Psalm 23) “He makes me to lie down in green pastures” seemed to be written in bold! Your thoughts on expectations shine another light on “green pastures” and about being content to “lie down” until “He leads me….” Thanks for that!
Thanks for commenting, Jeanne. It’s always so good to see how God uses His word to touch others. I hope you are having a lovely summer.
Our unfulfilled expectations can cause real problems! As you say, if we come to God and ask Him what His will is for us, we can focus our expectations accordingly. We also need to be ready to give Him our disappointments and trust Him in the unexpected times. Thanks, Janice 🙂
It’s definitely a journey, and there are ups and downs. But it’s all worth it.