What If?
Recently, an acquaintance and I made plans for lunch in south Dallas. Good food is my love language and I was eagerly anticipating our lunch. A few days out he pings the name and when I see it my excitement goes to another level. This next part is a bit illogical but seeing the name “Spiral Diner” immediately fires off images of ham and comfort food in my mind. I did zero additional investigation on the restaurant because in my mind the name gave all the pertinent information.
Have you ever expected one thing only to discover our expectations were very misguided? As I open the restaurant door and begin to peruse the room I quickly observe that not a person in the joint is over a buck-twenty (except me) and everyone is wearing yoga paints (even the guys). My heart starts to beat and my face goes flush as I come to the realization that this isn’t going to be as expected. The hostess moves toward me because she can see the distress on my face and attempts to comfort me by reassuring me that everything on the menu is vegan. I’m not for sure what that even means but I wasn’t reassured. I was looking forward to chicken fried steak and fried okra and at that moment I wasn’t even sure if I’d find anything to eat.
My friend and I ended up having a good time visiting. I powered my way through a tofu sandwich and stopped by the first McDonald’s and all was back right in the universe. What about the times though when there’s more at stake than just a meal gone bad? What about the times we have expectations of those nearest to us and they let us down? Or the one I wrestle with the most, when our expectations of God come up short?
There’s a story I’ve been pondering to start the new year and it’s about a guy whose experiencing failed expectations from God. He’s got a lot of stuff but the one thing he really wants he doesn’t have: a son. God’s made a promise that the time will come but, as naturally occurs, time keeps ticking away and the expectation that once seemed so clear has begun to fade away. He begins second guessing, developing creative plans to connect the dots on his own, and finally the most dangerous of them all: lowering his expectations of God.
The story I’m referring to is Abraham in Genesis 15. I think the story begs for us to stop and seriously consider a perspective that we’ve likely not. I believe the exchange between Abraham and God in this story should make us ask the question today, “could my expectations of God be going unmet because my expectations are too low not too high?” Could God in His graciousness be patiently waiting for us to expect more rather than meeting our current expectations?
Abraham was begging God for a son but God wanted Abraham to be the father of nations! Abraham was looking at his immediate need of having no heir; God wanted Abraham to expect more! I believe God is a good Father who wants to exceed our expectations. The best way to open ourselves up to expecting and experiencing more from God is to remember it’s not simply what God can do for us but what God is wanting to do through us! It’s a simple shift (not necessarily easy) but I believe the key to expecting more from God in 2019!