Great Expectations

"Put your expectations on God, not on people."

~ Joyce Meyer

We all have expectations. We expect a certain amount of common courtesy. We expect our spouses to honor and value us, our children to respect  and obey us, our bosses to appreciate our work, our friends to be loyal, our cars to crank when we turn the key, our bodies to function in a relatively healthy manner, and so many other things. But what do we do when life flips the script and what we expect, what we feel should happen, is not what happens? We learn the answer to that in Philippians 1 through the example of Paul who experienced broken expectations in the area of plans, people and places but stayed joyful and full of hope.

Paul was an evangelist called to go to the world and share the good news of Jesus. He started churches all over and went from place to place ministering. Now he was stuck in prison. When we are stuck in a place or situation that is uncomfortable, unfulfilling, or unsafe, it's easy to get discouraged and lose hope, But Paul became encouraged rather than discouraged. He said in Philippians 1:12 that his suffering lead to the advance of the gospel.

People will fail our expectations. It hurts, especially when it is someone we love dearly and who is supposed to love us, like a spouse, child, parent or grandparent. Maybe it's more life itself that let us down instead of a person. A loss of financial security, the death of someone close to us, a health crisis, and other situations similar to these can throw our lives into a tailspin as our expectations go up in flames.

Paul could have naturally expected to receive encouragement and help from fellow believers. After all, he was in prison for taking the gospel to them. But instead of encouragement, some were glad he was in prison. Hurt and anger would be the natural response, and would've left him miserable. Paul knew that death loomed over him, that at any minute his execution could be ordered. But instead of being paralyzed by fear Paul responded by saying that Christ is preached and in this he rejoiced (1:15) and that for him to live is relationship with Christ, and to die or lose himself and his expectations was to gain (1:21).

Paul's only expectation that mattered was for Christ to be honored and for God to be glorified through his life and reactions to his life. We can let go of our expectations. That doesn't mean to slip into hopelessness that says what's the point? No matter what I do misery is all I will find. No, we can release them in a better way, by remembering that what matters is relationship with God and what will be eternal. People and situations here are fleeting, even if fleeting is 90 years or so. The eternal is what matters. If we use our despair and failed expectations to inspire us to run to God, to find our comfort and solace in Him and our purpose in His will, then not only will we find peace and comfort for ourselves, but our peace when there should naturally be no peace, when everyone's expectations would be for us to be miserable and full of despair, will advance the gospel and show the love and power of Christ to a hurting world around us.