Expectation Day 2

Expectation, Day 2

What do you expect?

Just for a moment, will you consider that expectations are also a way to control something. Okay, that may be hard to do. But if you have no expectations, you can't try to control your situation or the future, right? I myself am a planner, a doer, a woman that does too much. What I do may not be the same that you do or more or less of what you do, it is what I do because it is what I perceive to be expected of me or it is what I have set as an expectation of myself. Sorry if I lost you there.

For someone like me, it is really hard to actually believe that I have accomplished something. Just when I am about to bring something to completion, I tend to add other contingencies so that the task is not fully completed, requiring more of myself than what is needed. Sometimes I may be make tasks much harder than they are because being busy makes me feel safe and it makes me feel more responsible. It also adds a huge weight and burden and blinds me of my successes so that I am almost oblivious to all that I have actually accomplished.

In today's society, women are praised for being successful as long as she can continue, at the same time, to be a good wife, a good mother, good-looking, good-tempered, well-groomed and unaggressive. So what is the problem? Well, it is a little tough to be well-groomed when you have a toddler running around. When we have deadlines with work and home it really hard to remain good-tempered. Producing children does not help us with the good-looking expectation wither. As women, we try the hardest to meet the expectations of others. As a result, we are always looking outside for validation, and no matter how much we get, it isn't enough. In always trying to be what others think we should be, we have lost ourselves and end up having little to bring to any relationship or task. This includes our relationship with God and serving the purpose he created us for.

Margaret Mitchell said "Life's under no obligation to give us what we expect." Expectations just set us up for disappointment. This quote could be re-written from a Christian point of view. God is under no obligation to give us what we expect. Ouch, that is rough, but true.

Many times, in our expectations, we are oblivious to what is really going on in a situation. We are so entirely wedded to what we think should be happening, or what we want to happen, we don't see what is happening. Many times we set up expectations for others without knowing their limitations, their expectations for themselves or their boundaries in relationships. This makes it hard for us to relate to others and in return we miss the opportunity to be in relationship with them. We also do this with God. We forget that HE is in control and he has a will for us in our lives. We may not fully understand what he is doing in our lives if we are focused on our expectations.

When it comes to a relationship with God and religion, I think expectations are a huge barrier for those who do not yet know our Lord. We have enough superhuman expectations of ourselves that what others think of us is a pale comparison. Many really believe that we should be able to handle everything, know everything, be on top of everything. Don't be so hard on yourself, God doesn't even have those expectations of us. I believe he doesn't set up any expectations at all, he wants to relate to us, expectations are barriers and if he loves us all, then he will not be disappointed in us if there are no expectations to be met. This does not mean we do not have responsibility, but that is for tomorrow...

Please continue to pray for Becky H.

If you have a testimony or comment about expectations, please feel free to share.