What Are You Expecting?

When I first began attending recovery meetings, I remember being told that "expectations lead to future resentments." At the time, I was aware of some resentments that had been dominating my mind. So, during my first year of recovery, I began to look at the expectations I had placed on others. I was amazed at the number of expectations I had placed upon my wife, my children, my extended family, my friends, and even society. I expected everyone to have the right attitude, the right answer, the right motive, the right timing, and the right opinion (that's an oxymoron!). Eventually, I began to see the common denominator in all of these expectations. ME! I was in charge of determining right versus the wrong. I had gotten pretty comfortable on my throne, orchestrating all of the affairs of everyone around me. And, of course, when things didn't go my way, I insisted that others were to blame.

Though my story may sound a lot like your story, let's consider some of the expectations present during the years that Jesus walked on this earth. Remember, "expectations lead to future resentments."

Expectation #1
The Jews were preparing for a king in the order of David, the greatest king in Israel's history. Their expectation was that the coming king would establish an earthly kingdom in exactly the same style as David's rule. They were expecting a repeat performance. When Jesus explained that His kingdom was not of this world, the Jews resented Him for not meeting thier expectations. (Matthew 22:41-46, John 18:36)

Expectation #2
The religious community expected Jesus to follow all of their traditions and customs which had been added to the original law. When Jesus pointed to the hypocrisy of following man-made traditions in lieu of God's law, the religious community resented Him for not meeting their expectations. (Mark 7:1-8)

Expectation #3
When the disciples began to believe that Jesus was the son of God and the promised Messiah, they expected Him to stay with them and establish His kingdom. When Jesus explained that He must die in order to rise from the dead, the disciples resented Him to the point of disowning Him. (Matthew 16:13-23, Matthew 26:31-34)

Our expectations can cause us to distance ourselves from the reality of some situations. As in the case of Jesus' contemporaries, their limited perspective and unrealistic expectations prevented them from fully embracing God's plan for redemption and reconciliation. We should aspire to place our expectations solely on our loving Father in heaven, who can be trusted to meet our every need.