Expectations

Today is the 9th day of the new year.  It is likely that you have set a goal, attacked it with all your might, and are feeling like you may have made a mistake.  Right?!  Come on now, admit it, you either decided to go on a diet and you are starving. Or you have tried a new work out routine and your whole body hurts.  Yep- I'm guilty of that one.  Maybe you set the goal to be kind to others and every single person who could possibly get under your skin has tested your  "nice bone".  In any case you have hit the HARD part.  That intricate part on your journey that tests your perseverance and your tenacity.  The part where you have to decide will I press on, or will I give in?  Will I be the statistic, the 92% who never accomplish their resolution or their goal?

We all have a choice to make.  Those who persevere find a way to hang on even when the going gets tough.  Some meditate, some find an accountability partner, some join a support group, and others rely on religious faith.  If you have never read the bible, I encourage you to read the first half of Psalms.  It is all of the thoughts, dreams, fears, whining, praises, and victories of King David.  Pastor Joyce lays it out beautifully in her word for the day. 

Expectation is From Him

David, the King of Israel, an accomplished Psalm writer, and one who had a heart after God’s own heart talked to himself. He was the leader of a nation and I am sure he had many distractions in his life.  When he was depressed he asked himself, “Why are you cast down, oh my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?”  Then he told himself, “Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.” (Psalm 42:5)

When things did not go the way his mind had imagined he said in Psalm 62:5, “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation (hope) is from Him.”  The vision of conquering his enemy for the Kingdom of God was in him, and he clearly knew that the hope and expectation he had for executing such a feat against seemingly impossible odds was given to him by God.

The purpose and plan for your life is already in you it was written on your heart before you were ever born.  Therefore, you can accomplish all that God has given you to do.  He alone holds the blueprint for your life.  If you are having trouble reading the plans of the great architect of your life think! What do you enjoy doing more than anything else?  What makes you excited about getting up each day?  It doesn’t have to be some super spiritual plan contrived by your mind that gives you no pleasure. 

God’s expectation is yours, it’s in you and the only thing that makes it impossible for you to imagine it is a distorted view of who God wants you to be.  This skewed view is most likely inscribed on your mind by the expectations of others, past failures, disappointments, or a lack of knowledge.  Open your ears that you may hear the wonderful life God has planned for you personally.   You are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of an all-powerful God who loves you!