I’m just not sure what to do with expectations sometimes. Maybe I’m never sure what to do with them. One way or another, they seem to get me in trouble.

A number of years ago, I had certain expectations of God. I thought they were solidly based on His Word. Now I don’t think they were.

I figured if I did “my part”, then God would be obligated to do “His part.” My part was to trust and obey Him. Of course I often failed at doing my part. God’s part was to be true to His Word and reward me for my faith. If I needed a job–He needed to supply one. If I had a financial need–He needed to meet it. If I needed __________–He needed to ___________.

God didn’t work that way though. He never seemed to be on my schedule. And even when He did “come through”, it didn’t look like I’d hoped or expected.

The Bible sure seems to be full of promises, but I’m not always sure which ones are for me. I find it very easy to pick out the ones I like (God pouring out so much blessing I won’t have enough room for it) and ignoring the ones I don’t (anything to do with suffering).

After a particularly hard season in the mid to late ’90’s, I became very cynical and bitter. I felt God had betrayed me. I’d done what He asked, but then He pulled the rug out from under me. I don’t think I could have verbalized it at the time, but I concluded that God was not all that good and therefore could not be trusted.

Those feelings led me into a season of lowering my expectations of God. It seemed a good way to reduce the chances of being disappointed. If I expect God to do very little, then I will experience little disappointment.

I don’t necessarily think that way any more, but I still have questions about what to really expect. On the one hand, all I’m really guaranteed is heaven and God’s presence until then. On the other hand, God calls me to believe and expect so much more.

Understanding that God is primarily about glorifying Himself, conforming me to His image and calling sinners to Himself gives me a better perspective. Helps me remember life does not even come close to revolving around me.

I guess if I put myself in Naomi’s position (Ruth 1), life and yes, God, seem incredibly unfair. She probably just wanted to enjoy her marriage, grow old with her husband and watch her two sons grow up. Instead, her husband and both sons die in a foreign land. Naomi’s life becomes one full of hardship and struggle and disappointment. Her life becomes a bitter one.

I doubt her expectations were met.

I’m still in process on the expectations front…