Expectation

I will admit that I have certain expectations of myself. I also have certain expectations of people around me. There are times when my expectations are very unrealistic. Expectation is a the anticipation of certain behavior, event or an activity to happen according to my hopes and dreams. Just because I expect something to happen doesn’t mean it will happen as I expect. There have been times when my expectation was very low, and I was surprised by the outcome.

Elisha, a prophet of the Lord was being visited by the commander of the Armean armies – a man named Naaman. He came to Elisha seeking healing for a contagious skin disorder – often referred to as leprosy.  He expected healing, but he expected it to happen in a different way. Check this out….

⁹ So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰ But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.”

¹¹ But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me! ¹² Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage.

¹³ But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’”¹⁴ So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child, and he was healed! (2 Kings 5:9-14 NLT)

I have learned to temper my expectations of others. I have learned that high expectations are hard to live up to – especially when you didn’t even know they existed. I think it’s wise to have a conversation about expectation when working with another person. I believe we all have expectations, but we also need help managing our expectation.

I do have expectations of the Lord. I actually talk to Him a lot about them. I believe the Lord has expectations of me. I expect Him to do most all of the things I ask of Him. He expects me to be faithful. I have learned to trust the Lord even when my expectations of Him are unrealistic. I know that He can do anything He wants, but He doesn’t always do things the way I wanted Him to.

Expectation can cause frustration if not tempered with a sense of patience and reasonable understanding. Expectation can lead me to jump to certain conclusions about you if you don’t meet or exceed my expectation.  Expectation is often a “one-sided” feeling that the other person involved is totally unaware of until he or she fails to meet the expectation.  The best way to work through expectation is to talk openly and clearly about it from both sides. I’m learning to trust the Lord to answer my prayers according to His Will and His Way because I know in my heart that He knows what is best in the big picture. A careful study of His Word tempers my expectations of how He works and what He wants to accomplish through me.

Pressing On!

Dwayne