EXPECTATION - THE PERCEPTION CHANGE THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!

3 May 2017

Expectation is that 'ingredient' that makes a special event last so much longer. For example, you expect to be spoiled on your birthday, which makes you feel excited and happy about the upcoming event and that reaches it climax in the fulfillment thereof. Faith, in reality , is also nothing else but expectation. It is what you decide to expect God to do when you ask Him for something.

We don't even realize it, but our lives consist of a series of expectations that we generate consciously and subconsciously. While we do generate expectation ourselves (we choose what we hope for), it is done so continuously that it becomes an automated response, to the extent that we actually have to stop ourselves to THINK about it sometimes. For example, I'm not an excellent cook, yet, knowing this, I am still disappointed when a recipe turns out to not taste according to the EXPECTATION that I have set. 😔

This also applies very strongly to our relationships. For instance, I would not have been upset with my hubby for not mowing the lawn, if I haven't had the expectation that he would do it when I deemed it necessary in the first place. Which means that technically speaking I wouldn't have been disappointed in God if I hadn't expected something that wasn't in line with His will and Word to begin with...!

The problem with expectation is that we often apply unrealistic measures. To situations. To people. And then, when neither can live up to that standard, we feel disappointed and hurt. Of course it is not always the fault of our own expectations - people can be very hurtful! - but we must, at the very least, apply discernment to know which is the real culprit.

Some people lose their faith because God didn't respond the way they had expected. The question is, what did they expect and why? Was it in line with what we know about God or was our expectation based on selfish desire...? Sometimes the church disappoints us because it didn't fulfill to our expectations? But... maybe I didn't choose the church that best fits my personality? Or maybe I expected people there to be more Godly and selfless than they could ever be?

Remember one thing: the fallen nature of man is SELFISH. Your's is too!! Unless we choose to put other's needs above our own, our automated response is to look out for ourselves first. This is what creates unrealistic expectations to begin with. We will always interpret behavior or situations in terms of our own perception of things and this does not necessarily bring us to the truth of what had really happened.

We end up realizing that the only thing that can help us correctly shape our expectations and perceptions, is following the guidelines in the Word of God. It turns the emphasis away from "obey or else" to "change myself in order to change the world".

I have recently been through a very dark time during which it seemed as if every person I have come to trust, had abandoned me. If God had allowed this to happen, it is because He wanted me to understand three things: - man will ALWAYS fail you at some point, regardless of how wonderful a person he/she may be - God will NEVER fail us. He can't. It's not in His nature!! - My own expectations and perceptions determine how positive or negative my life will be

Start changing today by asking God to help you to change. Then shape your perceptions by reading and APPLYING the Bible's guidelines. 😊