THE SPIRITUAL ASPECT – No. 10

In a previous post I wrote about how powerful our expectations are and that we all have expectations of everyone from ourselves, to others, to even God, Himself. In this post I will try to unpack my expectations of God. Since this has more to do with my relationship with God, I have included it under the spiritual thread.

As unspiritual as it may sound, we all have expectations of God. Some expect Him to remove all pain and sadness from their lives. Some expect Him not to allow any suffering in the world. Most of us expect God to hear and answer our prayers.

I’ve seen many different reactions from people when God doesn’t meet these expectations. Disappointment, disillusionment, anger and confusion to name a few. But the first question we need to ask is whether or not we as God’s people have the right to have expectations of God.

Putting it another way, is having expectations of God a vain attempt to elevate ourselves equal to or above God? As always, our example is Jesus, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.“ (Philippians 2:6-7).

During Jesus’ interactions with the Father recorded in the 4 Gospels, He never expressed demands. Rather, as would later be written, He “in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, [presented His] requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6). If our expectations of God are really demands in disguise, we are, at best, setting ourselves up for disappointment. It will always be unrealistic to approach God in this way.

It’s been my experience that, rather than approaching God with a list of expectations, a better way is to approach God with a sense of expectancy. Expectancy that God will do what He has promised to do; expectancy that God knows what is best for us and wants us to have it; expectancy that God will provide all that we need in order for us to accomplish His will.

So how has this made a difference in my circumstances? Well, if I had had a list of expectations of God, I would have been asking questions like, “Why me?” “Why haven’t I received my healing yet?” “And, how does God expect me to do His will with a body and voice that’s getting weaker by the day?”

However, because God wants what is best for me, because God keeps His promises, and because God’s will and purpose for my life haven’t changed, I’ve chosen expectancy over expectations. Every time I start to feel a sense of frustration over something I can no longer do, I chose to replace it with a sense of expectancy over the things I can still do. Every time someone prays for my healing, I have the same sense of expectancy, but because it’s not a demand, there’s little room for disappointment that it hasn’t happened yet. And every morning (OK, most mornings) I start the day with a sense of expectancy that God can and will use me to accomplish His will during that day.