Expectations

God has blessed his people with many gifts, earthly and spiritually. So many gifts, that we have come to take many of them for granted.

And we expect them.

Nice homes, well paying jobs in a good location, a large circle of friends, the man/woman of our dreams, children, a perfect family. These are all things that we view as the normal things in life. Normal things that “everyone has.” But the thing is, we don’t all have them. And when we don’t have them, we become upset… even angry! “I need these!” we say. “When will you give them to me?”

We expect them from the Lord and we spend our lives waiting. Waiting for the financial break through, waiting for the group of friends to accept you, or waiting for the man to walk into your life and sweep you off your feet. We think about it throughout the day, we pray fervently about it! We daydream about “that day” and we’re confident that when it comes, our lives will be complete.

Often thoughts of sorrow sink into our minds. Does God not want me to be happy? Am I doing something wrong? Why does everyone else have it, does God not think I deserve it? Depression and jealousy clouds our thoughts and we find ourselves even more upset.

Brothers and sisters, we are humble servants of our Lord. The things we demand from our God consistently show how greedy and spoiled we are. When we don’t see the blessings in our lives, we aren’t looking in the correct places. When we think we’re missing something, we should instead be amazed about how much the Lord has given us. We don’t live for benefits from the Lord, we live to serve and glorify him! The Lord blesses every one of his precious children with what they need, and our ridiculous expectations will never be fulfilled. Our thoughts and emotions will always change, but God’s love towards us never will.

Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

Averly Kikkert