Have you ever been let down by your own expectations?
We carry expectations in this life and jump into them as if we are jumping into the deepest, fullest, ocean. But instead we jump into a shallow pool. For our finite minds think that our expectations will hold us together, will always be met, and will never let us down. How many times have you asked yourself ,“God, if you are really good, then why did that thing that I expected to happen not happen?”
Our hearts break when we are met with the painful reality of unmet expectations. Our souls sink when we have to find a different way around when we thought we’d be going the same way forever. We have to re-orient ourselves. But sometimes, we re-orient the wrong way- the opposite way. Our Abba Father calls us to reorient back to Him, but because we feel shame for our hope filled, never-breaking, all-consuming expectations…we hide. As if our Abba Father is surprised.
We hide and expect Him to be surprised. Like we are children playing hide and seek behind a sheer curtain, but we don’t peek out from the curtain like curious children do, we tend to stay hidden. When we hide because of the shame we feel from our let down expectations, we expect our Father to respond to us like the way we respond to ourselves. “Shouldn't you know better?” But that’s not the Father. Instead He finds us, and in our hiding place, He replaces our shallow expectations of the world with the most tender hearted, everlasting, forever-fulfilling expectation of all time. He takes our broken expectations and not only mends them, he replaces them with something even better.
Himself.
Emmanuel. God with us. The expectation we can carry with us till the end of our days. That no matter what, no matter who, no matter where….Emmanuel. God is with us. We can expect that with absolutely no question in return. When every expectation we have lets us down, we have the ever-present expectation that we have a God that is with us. When that relationship you thought would last forever ends, when that job that you thought you would get does not get back to you, when your family gathering ends in shambles. When every expectation crumbles down, there is a steady hope that will never crumble down, that will never disappoint, that will never leave us in shame.
The expectation that in everything we do, our God is with us. Do you believe it for yourself yet? That when you stand in your kitchen at 3 pm, crying over something that happened last week, your Father is with you? That when your child says something painful to you, your Father is with you? Think of whatever is happening in your life. And I promise you that the greatest assurance you can have in the midst of shattered dreams, is a God that promises to never leave.
By Christina Thomas