Great Expectations?
Doesn't it seem like we spend a ton of time waiting for something we've worked so hard on to come to fruition? We do all this work, and find all of this energy and motivation and we sit back and wait. And then we wait some more.
Maybe like me, you start to get a little impatient which eventually grows into frustration and suddenly you are jumping out of your skin because you just can't wait another minute for "IT" to happen...whatever IT is!
I think sometimes we learn the most while we wait. Whether we wait for a promotion or for our business to take off or even for pounds to drop or a failing relationship to turn around...we wait and we expect.
Expectation.....seems like a harmless enough word but what is really wrapped up in that word? We think of the outcome we want and how it should all turn out. IF ONLY, I got that promotion I could ___________ If only my spouse or child would learn to _____________ life would be so much more peaceful. You get it right? But, what if, in the actual process of going after better things in our lives, looking for things to work out in our own way, we might be missing something even bigger and better?
When we expect a certain outcome we get set up for disappointment, anger and hurt feelings. There is so much at stake when we have expectations and they don't turn out as we hoped. Sadly, we may even lose sight of all we learned in the process of our efforts and we forget that our will, our desires and our thoughts are not everyone else's. Most of all, we forget it may not be God's best for us.
Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
The lessons we learn in the most frustrating of times are generally the lessons we needed the most AT the time. They have the biggest impact and are the catalyst for change for patience and growth. Somehow our way is, unbelievably, not always the best way. Once I learned to see that, I was able to slow down, see what is really going on and ask God for guidance, for wisdom and for a heart that allows something better to come my way.
So, it turns out that getting our own way is not all it's cracked up to be. It turns out that if we can hold out and keep doing our part, the diamonds of life are just beyond what we can see. We don't know if we are one more try away from success or if there is still a long road ahead.
The diamonds of life start showing up when we hold out a little longer, stand up after another fall and forgive another disappointment. Because we trust and know something better is coming. Even when something better is not what shows up. That's when faith gets harder.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Expecting God to show up is the only expectation I really want to count on. We each have our own idea's, our own agenda's and our own dreams and I have to wonder.... if we could make a little more room for others in that way, how much more room would be made for us? In an unfair world, who knows the answer to that but what I know for sure is life is better without the burdens of expectations. Just wait until you learn to catch that voice of expectation that so often does not get you what you think you really wanted.
What do you think?
The next time things don't work out the way you expected take a moment to have a conversation with yourself or journal and ask yourself....
Is it realistic to expect this scenario to work out as I envisioned and expected?
Could I avoid conflict if I adjust what I think others need to do right now?
Is my disappointment or frustration based on me not getting what I wanted?
Is my reaction helping or hurting my relationship?
Is it possible God is trying to teach me something and using this circumstance to help me?
Would the outcome and how I feel change if I chose from what showed up in my life instead?
So, I'd love to hear what you learned from this exercise.
Leave a comment, share your A-ha or go to my Contact page if you see something you need to work out. Need extra help, head over to my Services page and book your complimentary coaching call so we can slay this troublemaker once and for all!
