Expectation
Over these last few days I have been considering the meaning of expectation and how it daily impacts us. It is coming up for Christmas so the television is filled with adverts building us up to imagine a perfect time. We see tables full of wonderful food, children excited about all the toys they will receive, and people wearing sparkling shiny outfits. We see families coming together in houses on snow laden streets into cosy warm beautifully decorated rooms. It all looks fantastic and something we all might want, but in reality it is not always the case. These adverts are contrasted with others that focus on children who won’t get presents and homeless people cold and hungry on our towns streets. And although we don’t like those adverts they are actually closer to reality than we would like.
Of course expectation is not only about Christmas, it something that is part of everyday. We might be expecting a person or parcel to arrive today maybe you are expecting an invitation or event to take place. The dictionary definition is:
The belief that something will happen or a thing is expected to happen.
Or
Anticipation, Expectancy, Assumption, Supposition, Calculation,Prediction.
Expectation leads us to become expectant of what we are expecting.
Filled with anticipation, Pregnant
Or
Hopeful, Eager, Excited, Agog, In Suspense, On Tenterhooks.
I am in no doubt that we all get the gist and understand expectation and what that means for us in our lives, whether it works out or not. Like me I am sure that you have experienced the disappointment of what we expected not happening or working not out the way thought it would. That disappointment can leave us feeling flat and deflated, even unwilling to expect things in the future. Perhaps even feel that good things can never happen, that somehow if we don’t expect anything then we won’t be let down. The truth is there is always the potential that what we are expecting won’t quite meet our expectation. Whether we like it or not if we are looking to people and circumstance to meet our expectation we will always have a sense of disappointment and let down. Of course there will be times when something goes beyond what we might have expected and we are left with joy and wonder. We can get a real boost and feel uplifted when this happens.
How do you generally wake up in the morning? Do you wake feel sluggish and full of “Oh another day dread”? Or do you wake up with a feeling of excitement and hope. How we wake up can determine what sort of day we will have. And if that is true then surely how we approach life will do the same. What we put our hope, trust and expectation in will impact our lives no matter what happens. We can look to people, things and false hope or we can look to God to meet our expectation. I am not saying that looking to God will make life easy or dreamy, things won’t suddenly all go our way. But what I am saying is that in trusting God we won’t be disappointed. When we trust in Him we find that we able to walk in a much more purposely and positive way. Even if things don’t go our way we can look to Him to help and guide us past disappointment. You see when we walk with God we begin to see things differently, we see things from His perspective. That baby that was born in a manger was the expected messiah spoken about in the old testament. In Jesus we have hope fulfilled and expectation met, we need nothing else. Whatever is going on in our lives or in the world around us we have no need to worry because Jesus has saved us, we are no longer of the world but have enter into the Kingdom of God. We have gone from darkness into light (1Peter 2:9-10). Not only that we have that sure expectation that He will return and come again to bring a new heaven.
There are two passages of scripture which are well worth looking at as you consider where your expectation lays. Do you have the same expectations as those who are in darkness, tossed about with uncertainty? Or do you live in the expectation of someone walking in the light of God, sure and certain when strong winds blow?
Luke 21:29-36
2 Peter 3:10-13
As believers we need to take heed and be ready in expectant prayer for His second coming, for He will surely come. Let us take hole of the words from
2 Peter 3:14-18 and place all our expectant hope in God and His word.