Expectation

Life is full of expectations. I tend to have high, or at least reasonable, expectations. When I prepare appropriately for a task or assignment, I have a reasonable expectation that it will turn out as planned. Sometimes I run into trouble when I project my reasonable expectation on a situation beyond my influence or control. At those times, I admit, I feel wounded and confused. I beat myself up wondering what I could have done differently. The answer is nothing, absolutely nothing. I don’t have the ability to change the outcome of anything.

I have a lot of those “if only” moments in my life. If only I had spoken up when I saw a friend in need, they would not have suffered. If only I had waited a bit longer to leave the house, I would not have been injured in an accident. It’s my way of bargaining with God. If only, if only, if only …

In the Bible, Jesus sits in the Garden of Gethsemane prior to His arrest. Knowing the physical, spiritual, and emotional agony He will soon experience, Jesus falls to the ground and asks his Father, three times, a similar question: “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” – Mark 14:36 (NLT)

Jesus submits to the will of His Father knowing there is no other possible sacrifice that would redeem the world. If only there was another way, but there wasn’t. Jesus prayed for His Father’s will to be accomplished, not His own. That is amazing love and sacrifice beyond my understanding. Jesus knew the pain that would come, but He also was certain of the expectation-His death and resurrection would pay the penalty for our sins. For this reason, I have hope and the expectation of spending eternity with the One who loves me most.

Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in Him.

Psalm 62:5 (NLT)