What Did You Expect?

I have found that when I am frustrated, angry, and depressed, many times the source of my dilemma is unfulfilled expectations. Things didn't turn out like I had anticipated. When your promotion did not come through. Your 'happily-ever-after' marriage ended not happily. You prayed earnestly but God did not answer me, at least not as you expected. 

Since God is in control of my life, I have to surrender my life and its expectations to Him. There is nothing wrong with making plans but ultimately God's will has to be considered.  James 4:13-17. After all, God loves us and only wants our best. 

Ultimately we must give our expectations to God and in doing so, we will have peace. 

" My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him." Psalm 62: 

The God Hunt

 

"Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it." Genesis 28:16 

 

The context for the above verse is found in the Old Testament Book of Genesis when Jacob is fleeing his vengeful brother. He stops for the night and while sleeping, God reveals Himself to Jacob in a dream.  Jacob awakes and it dawns on him that God was in the place that he stopped for the night, and he was totally unaware of it.  

The thought occurred to me; how many times is God is present in OUR lives and we are totally unaware of it. We mark it up as being “lucky” or just a favorable circumstance, but Psalms 37:23 says A person’s steps are directed by the Lord. Personally, I do not believe in ‘coincidences’ in a Christ-followers' life. There may be events where we are totally unaware of God’s Presence, but He is there all the same.  

This week let’s go on a God Hunt. Let’s look for God as He intersects on lives. Jeremiah 29:13 says, “If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.” If you are consciously, actively looking for Him, you will find Him.   Look for Him in... 

• An unexpected phone call 

• An opportunity that presents itself 

• A prayer that is answered in a way that was unexpected 

• A monetary gift or job advancement 

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God is predictable in His unpredictability. God delights in surprising us, in revealing the ways in which he is not like us. One of the most common deceptions of humanity is to believe God acts, thinks, and believes exactly like us. Rarely does God do what we expect. If humanity should be certain of anything it is that we never know what God might do next. The Bible is full of God’s unpredictability: 

• David kills Goliath. 

• When choosing disciples, He came to the least qualified. 

• When choosing a people, He came to the smallest. 

• When choosing a king, He came to the youngest. 

• People were expecting a military Messiah, God sent a baby.

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God shows up in unexpected places. It’s the pattern of God to shock and surprise in the place that we least expect.