Expectations. I’ve
been thinking about this word a lot because I’ve realized that in my personal
life and ministry life to others, many of my frustrations, or struggles, or
dashed hopes and dreams, even general needs come from me expecting something “otherwise,” something other than what is or
what God desires. Through my personal expectation lens I’m learning more
about myself and the limits I place upon God.
Sometimes I “expect” what loving others should look like,
but I’ve been wrong. I’ve lacked grace,
compassion, empathy, and I’ve jumped to conclusions too quickly. Sometimes this is where my prayer lists
start. I pray for the things I “expect”
need changing, the things I desire, the things I think I deserve, the things I
think others need, the things I’d like to see differently in others. Expectations can be disappointing limits upon
my faith in a powerful God.
My expectations are no match for Ephesians 3:20-21, “Now to
him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according
to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in
Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
Obviously, human expectations are flawed, limited, and
sometimes confining, while God’s abilities are holy and limitless. It’s not always easy, but I’m trying to live
out trust without borders, without expectations. I’m challenging myself to not expect what I
think God should do or what I want him to do.
I’m learning to live my life expecting God to be God. I’m a disciple needy of hands-on lessons on
what it really is to have faith in an All Sufficient God, just like Jesus’
disciples of long ago.
In the familiar story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 men – Jesus
already knew the miracle he would perform; He was God. He knew who and what he would use to perform
the miracle; He was God. He knew what
his purpose in performing the miracle would be; He was God. On the flip side, the disciples’ expectations
were - there’s an impossible situation here, what we have is too little, what
can be done? They lived with the miracle
worker; He was God. Still they focused
on their limited supply, the impossibility of the task. Their human expectations were limited, while
Jesus’ abilities, supply, and provision were limitless.
With the very human restriction of five small barley loves
and two small fish, Jesus fed the multitudes with His abundance. He blew everyone’s minds that day beyond any
human expectation. And what was His
motive? Love. Love for the disciples, the people, and love
for God the Father. And, his love was a
powerful illustration of limitless provision.
There’s a greater depth of love and compassion that God
desires to fill our hearts with for Him and the needs of people. We never grow to a place where we love
enough. God’s expectation is that we
love without limits because He first loved us.
Notice, that none of the disciples are recorded as extending hearts of
compassion for the people because of their need or saying, “Jesus, you’ve got
this! These people are hungry, you care
for their basic human needs and we know without a shadow of a doubt that you
are going to meet their needs right now because you love them so!”
Let’s put our feet into the shoes of the disciples. If we were there, what would our comment to
Jesus have looked like? Would we have
loved the people deeply and trusted Jesus without any expectation of what He could
or would do? I probably would have said,
“Why didn’t they plan ahead and bring their own dinner?”
Maybe this is what we should say when God needs to show up
and provide a miracle for ourselves or someone else, “We’re waiting on you,
Jesus. You see and know the need. Is there anything you need us to do to allow
your immeasurably more than we can think or imagine resources to be seen
here? Our love compels us to action and
we’re available to love in Your name!”
Warren Wiersbe says On
Being a Servant of God, “Ministry takes place when divine resources meet
human needs through loving channels to the glory of God.”
It is God’s divine limitless resources that meet human needs
for His glory. We are the privileged
ones to be used as loving channels for God’s glory, if we allow Him. My love for God, His glory, His people is
what matters. God’s love meets human
needs. I shouldn’t expect that my puny,
human resources can do much. Yet,
certainly, I can expect God to perform miracles because of His character of love. I’m the grace-filled messenger.
Furthermore, Warren states, “When it comes to ministry, all
of us are bankrupt, and only God is rich.”
It is God’s love we distribute richly!
How dare we place limited expectation on what His love looks like?
Warren continues, “The unearned, undeserved grace of God is
His loving gift for us to share with others.
God’s resources channeled through us.
This is ministry.” “We must ask
of God, ‘Lord, what do you want me to do?’”
In life, would we be frustrated less, would our needs be
few, would we shelve our earthly hopes and dreams to fully embrace and channel
God’s love, with no strings attached if we expected God to be God? Would the priority of people and extending
God’s love to them, overshadow our expectations in life in general?
The disciple’s limited expectations didn’t stop Jesus from
performing this great miracle of feeding the multitudes. They even were privileged to participate,
hands-on in the miracle by helping to organize the people, pass out the food,
and gather the leftovers. But, what
greater joy would have been theirs should they have believed from the very
onset of the need that God’s great resources were available that moment and
efficient enough to do something beyond their comprehension for God’s glory
alone!
Because of God’s love, the small offering of our lives will bring
glory to God because divine resources can be channeled to meet human need. That’s a miracle, my friends. We can expect God to perform miracles of His
beautiful grace and mercy. I don’t want
to limit God. God is God. For my life and
others’, I want to live by the immeasurably more expectation lens.
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