Tuesday-Expectations

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

1 Peter 4:12

Everyone, and I mean everyone, has expectations. When it comes to living, we all expect that the sun will come up in the morning and go down in the evening. When we go to any store, we expect things to be on the shelf. When we come to the drive-up window, we expect our order to be ready and be exactly what we asked for.

While I could go on and on about our daily expectations, we need to think about how we handle those times when they aren’t met. When the unexpected jumps up and startles us. When the unplanned happens. Sometimes it’s just something small. Other times, it’s going to rock our world.

• What do you do when you order unsweetened iced tea without lemon, and they bring you a great big glass of lemonade?

• What thoughts flood your head when you expected a good performance review at work, and they threaten to fire you for doing a horrible job?

• How do you react when you’re expecting a hug and a kiss from the one you love, and you get that silent, icy stare instead?

I made plans one day to look at some property near the ocean. It’s been a dream of mine since falling in love with Mary Ann to have a place near a beach. She loves to walk with the waves splashing on her feet while looking for shells. And for my part, I’m harvesting seaweed that’s washed ashore for her plants.

Anyway, a lot of planning went into the trip. There were several calls with real estate people to talk about what we were looking for. What was important to us. How much we could afford. The result was a plan where we could look at a number of properties together.

Leaving on time, we had a lovely talk as we made our way towards the meeting. About halfway there, traffic in both directions stopped. We continued our conversation as we patiently sat there. After 15 minutes, I pulled out my phone and started looking for another way to get there.

The bad news was that there was a huge accident miles ahead of us. The worse news was that there wasn’t any other way that would let us get there on time. I called up the agent, explaining the situation, and apologized all over myself. They were kind and said that they would reschedule everything.

One of my great expectations about life is not to be on time, but to arrive early so there ain’t no way I’d ever be late. Why? Because in my family, being on time is like being late. And being late is horrible. But not showing up is an unpardonable sin.

Peter isn’t just suggesting that “the fiery ordeal” is coming, but he’s actually ordering them to expect it. Like a general ordering their troops, Peter says that we should expect fiery ordeals in this life.

Why else would he tell them and us not to be surprised? We need to stop thinking that it’s so weird when bad stuff happens. Our expectations for this life to be filled with nothing but happiness, health, and high-fives is not what’s going to happen. And oh, by the way, it’s not the plan of God either.

Being a follower of Jesus does not wrap us in some spiritual bubble that protects us from sorrow. It’s not an eternal insurance policy that will put out the flames of pain. There are no guarantees that sickness and tragedy won’t knock down the door to our house.

It’s time to get to work and change the way we think about this life. When life happens, and it’s coming like a freight train, suffering for living the way Jesus did should be our expectation. If people hated Jesus, what makes us think that they won’t do the same to us? Do we think we’re smarter or more spiritual than he was? Or that we can convince them with our words when he couldn’t?

If you name the name of Jesus, if he’s your Lord and Savior, then we should expect people to treat us the same way they treated him. Yes, our life will be one of loving kindness. But it will also be a life that speaks the uncomfortable truth to people that don’t really want to be told that they’re wrong.

And who is Peter writing these words of warning to? He calls them dear friends. These are people that he wants nothing but the best for. They are people he loves in the same way that God loves them. He’s willing to say hard words. Do the hard thing. And why? Because it’s the absolutely best thing for their good.

When Jesus came, he showed this kind of love by doing the hardest thing in the universe. He volunteered to take all our punishment on himself and pay the price for our returning to God as his dearly loved children.

Since God did all this and more for us, what’s our expectations about him? Do we look for him to just smack us upside the head? To get a laugh out of punishing us? To enjoy sending pain into our lives? Not on your life. His love is an unending love. Why else would he take our eternal debt on himself? Our expectations about God need to be rebuilt because of all he’s already done for us. Remember, God wants to spend eternity with us, so he must love us. And that’s going to change our expectations about him.

Noodling Questions

• Name three expectations you have for your life. Explain each.

• What’s your reaction when you don’t get them? Why?

• How can the expectation of God’s love change your life?