Managing Expectations
by Andrew Barnhart
William Shakespeare said, “Expectation is the root of all heartache.” In every area of life comes expectations. We often find heartache and disappointment in life because we have misguided expectations.
For example, people running for political office may set expectations low so that when they achieve something, they are seen as having overcome expectations.
In marriage, people may have unrealistically high expectations. When the other person fails to live up to that expectation, we can become unhappy, bitter, or decide to go our separate ways.
If you are a fan of a sports team, whether or not your team performs at the level we expect them to, (sometimes even before a single game is played), determines whether or not that team disappointed us or exceeded our expectations. We tend to base our expectations for our team before the season starts based on how they did last year, who left or joined the team, and how the competition looks. We can even base our expectation on what a group of people think.
I recently sat and watched my team, along with all the others, compete in the NCAA basketball tournament. And when I say I watched, I mean I spent 70 hours watching parts or all of 67 games. (It’s a little tradition I have). After my team lost, too early for my liking, I turned on the radio to hear people call in and complain about that game and about how they were disappointed in how they didn’t advance far enough. They called in to voice their frustration with how this team didn’t live up to their expectations. Nevermind the fact that over the last 3 seasons, this team had won by far the most Big 10 games, won a Big 10 tournament championship, and a Big 10 regular season championship. It didn’t matter what had been accomplished, they didn’t live up to the expectation of most fans.
As I turned off the post game show, (I can’t listen to that for very long), I realized that we often do the same thing when it comes to God. We can form opinions on God based upon things we’ve heard, or what other people think or say about HIm. Maybe we adopt a view of God based upon our own life experiences.
Expectations about God are formed based upon everything and anything, often apart from what God has actually said and revealed through His Son and HIs Word.
When Christ came, the people who witnessed the things He said and did either could not or would not believe because they based their expectation of the Messiah on other things. God told us when Messiah would come (Daniel 9:24-27), that He would be born to a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), that He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), that a messenger would precede Him (Malachi 3:1), He told us the things He would say and do (Isaiah 35:4-6), that He would ride on a donkey into Jerusalem (Zechariah 9:9), that He would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12-13), that Messiah would be forsaken and pierced, but vindicated (Psalm 22), and that He would be resurrected (Psalm 16:8-11).
To the people living then, a crucified Messiah didn’t make sense to them, even though that’s what God told them. People do the same thing today. They look for a God who is loving - minus the holiness. A God who is forgiving but who wouldn’t condemn. When things are going well in life, God is barely acknowledged, but when hard times come they God is blamed. God never promised a life without tribulations (John 16:33), only that He would be there with us in those trials. Yet, when hard times come people can become bitter at God.
If you were to ask people, most would say that they expect to go to Heaven when they die. However, the reason for why they believe that would vary between a variety of answers, from their own goodness, to having been baptized, or taking part in communion or even attending church. However, God tells us that there is one way to the Father, and that is through His Son, Jesus Christ.
John 14:6 - Jesus said to him, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father but through Me.” God tells us it’s through the Person and work of Christ that anyone can get to Heaven. And, what Christians around the world are about to celebrate this Easter makes that relationship with God a possibility- His resurrection from the dead. For if Christ had not risen from the dead, then our faith would be useless, and most pitiful of people. (1 Corinthians 15:12-19).
This Easter we hope you will take time to reflect on whether or not you have the proper expectation of who Jesus is, what He did, and how we can have a relationship with Him. Because of the resurrection, one day we can expect to be present with the Lord, when absent from the body. (2 Corinthians 5:8). What a reason to worship the One who is worthy!
For example, people running for political office may set expectations low so that when they achieve something, they are seen as having overcome expectations.
In marriage, people may have unrealistically high expectations. When the other person fails to live up to that expectation, we can become unhappy, bitter, or decide to go our separate ways.
If you are a fan of a sports team, whether or not your team performs at the level we expect them to, (sometimes even before a single game is played), determines whether or not that team disappointed us or exceeded our expectations. We tend to base our expectations for our team before the season starts based on how they did last year, who left or joined the team, and how the competition looks. We can even base our expectation on what a group of people think.
I recently sat and watched my team, along with all the others, compete in the NCAA basketball tournament. And when I say I watched, I mean I spent 70 hours watching parts or all of 67 games. (It’s a little tradition I have). After my team lost, too early for my liking, I turned on the radio to hear people call in and complain about that game and about how they were disappointed in how they didn’t advance far enough. They called in to voice their frustration with how this team didn’t live up to their expectations. Nevermind the fact that over the last 3 seasons, this team had won by far the most Big 10 games, won a Big 10 tournament championship, and a Big 10 regular season championship. It didn’t matter what had been accomplished, they didn’t live up to the expectation of most fans.
As I turned off the post game show, (I can’t listen to that for very long), I realized that we often do the same thing when it comes to God. We can form opinions on God based upon things we’ve heard, or what other people think or say about HIm. Maybe we adopt a view of God based upon our own life experiences.
Expectations about God are formed based upon everything and anything, often apart from what God has actually said and revealed through His Son and HIs Word.
When Christ came, the people who witnessed the things He said and did either could not or would not believe because they based their expectation of the Messiah on other things. God told us when Messiah would come (Daniel 9:24-27), that He would be born to a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), that He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), that a messenger would precede Him (Malachi 3:1), He told us the things He would say and do (Isaiah 35:4-6), that He would ride on a donkey into Jerusalem (Zechariah 9:9), that He would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12-13), that Messiah would be forsaken and pierced, but vindicated (Psalm 22), and that He would be resurrected (Psalm 16:8-11).
To the people living then, a crucified Messiah didn’t make sense to them, even though that’s what God told them. People do the same thing today. They look for a God who is loving - minus the holiness. A God who is forgiving but who wouldn’t condemn. When things are going well in life, God is barely acknowledged, but when hard times come they God is blamed. God never promised a life without tribulations (John 16:33), only that He would be there with us in those trials. Yet, when hard times come people can become bitter at God.
If you were to ask people, most would say that they expect to go to Heaven when they die. However, the reason for why they believe that would vary between a variety of answers, from their own goodness, to having been baptized, or taking part in communion or even attending church. However, God tells us that there is one way to the Father, and that is through His Son, Jesus Christ.
John 14:6 - Jesus said to him, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father but through Me.” God tells us it’s through the Person and work of Christ that anyone can get to Heaven. And, what Christians around the world are about to celebrate this Easter makes that relationship with God a possibility- His resurrection from the dead. For if Christ had not risen from the dead, then our faith would be useless, and most pitiful of people. (1 Corinthians 15:12-19).
This Easter we hope you will take time to reflect on whether or not you have the proper expectation of who Jesus is, what He did, and how we can have a relationship with Him. Because of the resurrection, one day we can expect to be present with the Lord, when absent from the body. (2 Corinthians 5:8). What a reason to worship the One who is worthy!
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