We all have expectations. Some of them I consciously think about. Others are more hidden. At the beginning of the day I anticipate what I will experience at work or during other events of my day. I set a plan and create a schedule. I have expectations of what will happen driving to Walmart. I have expectations of what will happen when I turn on my computer. I have expectations of how people will act around me; my wife, my kids, and even strangers. I set expectations about how I should be treated, of what is fair and right. When situations, circumstances, or people do not fulfill my expectations conflict sometimes occurs.
I have expectations of God. I may not acknowledge it but if God is gracious and just, loving and kind, merciful and sovereign, I have a mental list of what I can expect of His interactions in my life. When He fulfills this list my expectations are reinforced. When He doesn’t live up to what I expect I struggle.
I am old enough to know I have this mental list, and I am hopefully wise enough to know that my finite human intelligence does not comprehend and understand the full nature of the eternal God. But, I still struggle with the game of “why don’t you meet my expectations, God?” As much as I would like to have God’s workings in my life well defined I am reminded of this conflict within me through a picture. It is a poster with an image of a white cardboard box with black lettering. It states: “I am not in here. God”.
How do I respond when God does not fulfill my expectations? What is the right response to this conflict that will help me become a mature believer? I am forced to change my expectations of Him. I have no other choice if I truly believe that God is real and is at work within me and in the world around me. For to consider a different option is to consider that God is not whom He says He is. I either question whether He is loving, or I change what I expect to experience from His love. I either question whether He is good, or I patiently wait to see good come about through His actions or what He allows to come into my life. He is either sovereign over all things or He is something else other than God Almighty.
I have friends and acquaintances that have had many difficult situations come into their lives. I do not have an answer to their question of “how or why God could let this happen”. My only encouragement is to know that God is who He says He is, and that at some time I will no longer look through a glass darkly. For now, I choose a faith centered in Him, and I begin to discover what true love looks like. I discover that God performs a miracle by transforming what was evil and tragic into something good. By His grace I begin to be transformed as Christ becomes alive in me, “the hope of glory”. Genesis 45:4-7, 2 Samuel 7:22, Ezra 3:11, Psalm 25:8, Colossians 1:27, 1 Corinthians 13:12, 1 John 4:8…
