Expectations!

2015 was quiet the ride for me and my family.  With the number of ups and downs we had I’d swear we were on a roller coaster.  So much of this last year has been about adapting to new situations and overcoming challenges.  It was both rewarding and defeating and was filled with overwhelming joy and unbelievable sadness.  Overall 2015 wasn't all that we hoped for or dreamed of but then again perhaps our expectations were a little too high and maybe we set ourselves up a bit for failure by putting too much weight on what we thought the year should look like.  

Don’t we all do that in our lives?  Don’t we all picture what our lives are going to look like from year to year?  Isn’t it amazing how often our expectations rarely match reality?  

Oh sure, some of you reading this are conservative in nature when setting your expectations of life and probably get closer to matching those expectations, but if you are a big, huge dreamer and a bit over the top like my wife and I, your expectations from year to year are generally really high.  

The problem with setting your expectations too high is that we try to create what we believe is the perfect scenario for us (emphasis on “us”) and then hope God simply blesses our desires.  I think we forget that God’s plans, dreams and expectations for us may not always align up with ours. In fact, His plans may include us having to climb our way out of a valley for awhile before we reach victory.  When that happens then we get upset and tend to question God, feeling disappointed that he didn't bless our big expectations for the year like we hoped. 

What’s ironic is that God gave us the ability to dream in the first place.  He wants us to dream big and have high expectations about things in life but I also believe we have to taste disappointment from time to time to better appreciate and enjoy victory when it happens.  He wants us to be content when things don’t always go our way.  I would say and so would Paul that contentment is the key to a great life here on earth.  He has great plans for all of us that believe and follow Him. 

My wife and I are little more reserved about 2016 than we were about 2015 but it’s not like we’ve given up dreaming big…no way!!  We just plan on entering 2016 with our knees on the ground and in prayer and with the voice of Jesus echoing in our heads “not our will, but yours be done” in our lives.  We want content hearts and we want to make sure that when we dream that we don’t put so much weight on our dreams that we allow the dreams to be bigger than our desire to see God’s will be done.  

In summary, we want our expectations to be the same as God’s.  We want to dream “God Sized” dreams and have high expectations.  We want to see God’s will done in every part of our lives and most of all we want to be content because we know that no matter what God has plan to prosper us now and in the future.  

"Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes." Ephesians 3:20

Still dreaming! 

Brian