Expectations

Today we were supposed to get a hurricane/tropical storm. Everyone expected it ~ the weatherman, the schools, businesses, home owners, etc... People got prepared. They bought bread and milk and water and batteries. All that preparation and in the end, nothing happened but little rain spurts and a slight breeze, if that.

This brings me to think about EXPECTATIONS and how often they are not met.

We all have expectations. I'm thinking about the expectations we have of God. We expect one thing will happen when we pray, and God often thinks another thing. We don't get what we pray for, what we are expecting, and we are disappointed. It isn't that Jesus didn't hear our prayer, but it is that He fulfills our expectations differently sometimes.

I was all set for a tropical storm today. I moved the things from the yard that could fly away in the wind and locked them up. I bought my groceries a day early in case we lost power. I looked to the sky and trees for stormy signs.

The storm never came. So I'm trying to connect that with how sometimes I don't get what I expect from God. I'm not saying that to insult God, but my own MISUNDERSTANDING of how God works. God is God. I'm not. I know His mind is so much bigger than mine and I will never think like He does. God has a reason when He doesn't give us what we expect. I suppose we will understand those reasons when we pass from this world.

Other times, God answers our prayers BEYOND our expectations. This has happened to me many times. I LOVE IT when that happens. Sometimes when God answers my prayers like that it gives me hope and makes me know that God listens to my prayers .... even the small, quiet, private prayers that are sometimes so deep within my soul that they do not even have words. He hears those prayers too.

I think it is fair to say that we should always expect SOMETHING from God, even though it may not be what we are asking for or expecting. We have to be open to the possibilities....

Anyway, this is what I'm thinking tonight. May God have mercy on my incredibly unworthy soul.