The Trouble With Expectations

Guest Blog by Andrew Steven:

Expectations are often far off from reality. We think we should be farther along than we currently are. More money. More security. A better job. A spouse. Kids…

We battle expectations with God, too. Maybe we feel like we have done everything right, and yet trouble still happens. We tithe. We go to church. Don’t smoke. Don’t drink. And yet, still pain. Things aren’t going according to our plans. Everything in life isn’t what we expected it to be. So we ask, “God why are you letting this happen?”

When Jesus came to earth, many had a different expectation of who the Messiah would be. They expected bells and whistles, a highly visible ruler, someone powerful. Someone who would overthrow the injustice and governments of the day and establish his own literal kingdom. For the Hebrew people, their Messianic expectations grew exceedingly.

When Jesus arrived, he was not the Messiah people had expected. He spent his time with the poor, not the powerful. Rome still governed the land, people still suffered, and oppression still existed.

What happens when our expectations of Jesus are far off from reality?

The difference between expectation and reality is a place we often find pain and despair. When reality hits and pain comes, what do we do then?

The whispers start to creep up and tell ourselves that we’ve done it all correctly and we’ve lived our lives the right way. And then we declare, “Jesus, you owe me!”

Maybe not in those words exactly. Maybe we tiptoe around it. But we feel it nonetheless.

How do we let our expectations break so that we can become rooted in the reality of who Jesus is?

Because the reality is that Jesus is a greater Messiah than we could have ever hoped for. Greater than any of our expectations.

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

When life hurts, when pain is real, when we are broken…every promise is still “yes” in Christ. Everything we need is found in Christ.

(Andrew Steven is a worship leader and songwriter from Orange County, CA. For more information, check out andrewsteven.com)