Expectations of God
Frustration is the gap between expectations and reality, but the problem is we often do not know our own expectations.
Think about it:
I am dissatisfied with a meal at a restaurant, but what did I truly expect, and was that a fair expectation?
I am dissatisfied with my relationship with my spouse, but what do I truly expect our relationship to be, and am I actually working toward that myself?
I am dissatisfied with my spiritual life, my church, the worship, or a sermon, but what was I truly expecting?
I want us to think about expectations this week, and more specifically, our expectations of our own spiritual life.
So let's start here:
What are your expectations of God?
Do you expect to hear from Him audibly, perceptively, or internally?
Do you expect Him to convict, correct, or change the way you are living?
Do you expect to desire Him more?
Hebrews 11:6 states that whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.
Most of us have very little expectation of God in our daily lives. At best, God is a backup plan or insurance policy for the big issues.
Should we expect more from Him?
Could it be that we only allow God to live up to the tiny position we give Him in our daily lives?
Do you think God wants to do more in, through, and around you than He is doing right now?
I am convinced He does; yet, I am often not convinced enough to ask for it, seek it, or desire it.
I want to stop here today and urge you to think over these questions:
What do I really expect of God?
What do I really expect from God?
How do I expect to see, hear, or feel God?
The Root Problem
What is wrong with the world?
I think we have all asked that question and may have a few thoughts:
The liberals. The conservatives. The Muslims. The Jews. The nominal Christians. The education system. The welfare system. The capitalist system.
We have lots of ideas as to what causes this world to be so utterly messed up. We assume that as we advance through decades and centuries, the world gets better, but the opposite often seems true.
What is wrong with the world?
The famous preacher G. K. Chesterton famously penned these words: “What is wrong with the world? I am. I’m what’s wrong with the world. The world doesn’t get sorted out unless I do.”
We keep hoping and believing that the next candidate, the newest policy, or the best economic system is going to cure systemic poverty, racism, and, bluntly, sinfulness. Spoiler alert: it won’t.
You and I are the problem. They and them are the problem. We are selfish, arrogant, greedy people who care more about self than others. We are the problem, and that is not easily fixed. Maybe this is why Jesus taught us to focus on the log in our own eye before the speck in our neighbor’s.
What can we do to begin fixing ourselves?
Acknowledge your faults and failures.
Confess your sinfulness and selfishness.
Recognize that you are to blame, not just others.
You are a vile sinner who deserves eternal separation from a holy God, and yet, by mercy you could never earn, you have been offered everlasting life with Him.
There is no need to pretend any longer. God knows. God sees. God recounts better than you can the despicable things you have thought, done, and said! Rather than continue to act high and mighty, the call of God is to be humble and lowly.
The best antidote we can use to combat the problem of sin in our lives is confession. Listen to this definition of confession: “We say we believe in grace, but confession is how we actually trust what we already believe.”
Confession is putting God to the test. Will He truly forgive me if I expose all that I have done? Can I really be loved after how I have chosen to live?
Confession takes deep faith in the character of God, but it also transforms our understanding of God. It teaches us that we can share with Him anything and everything. It helps us pray bolder, live bolder, and speak bolder. Why? Because while we know we are part of the problem with the world, we also know the One who is the solution for it!
Pray like Saints
You have either listened to or read enough from me to know that I like phrases — and the more alliterative, the better. I often say that God has called sinners sons and daughters, but I have always wanted to add another word: saints.
Saints seem scary. It feels like some perfect monk, draped in a robe, whose only vocation is to fast and pray. That is not me. I am okay calling myself a Christian, believer, and even a son of God, but saint feels like a bridge too far.
What is a saint? For a long time, I had the wrong understanding of sainthood. “To call someone a saint is not to necessarily call them good; it is only to name them as someone who has experienced the goodness of God.”
Are you a saint?
Have you experienced the goodness of God?
Have you discovered the love of the Father?
Have you been cleansed by His blood?
While I still struggle to fully accept the title, I hope we all pray like saints — that is, pray like people who have experienced the goodness of God! Pray like people who know the all-powerful and the always-present. Pray like people who believe in forgiveness and a future. Pray like people with a hope in heaven.
I hope you are a saint.
I hope you will pray like a saint — recollecting your experience of the goodness of God!
The Greatest Enemy of Prayer
What do you think the greatest enemy of prayer in your life is? Be specific!
Is it your sin, your shame, your choices, your aspirations?
Is it your job, your family, your anger?
What if I told you it was none of those things?
What if I told you the greatest enemy to prayer in your life is what you fill your life with?
Busyness.
Hurry.
Muchness.
These are the things that will stop you from praying the most. Richard Foster states: “In contemporary society our Adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry, and crowds. If he can keep us engaged in ‘muchness’ and ‘manyness,’ he will rest satisfied.”
Do you feel that?
Thomas Merton explains that the greatest spiritual disease in our day is “efficiency.”
When muchness, hurry, and efficiency rule our lives, prayer makes no sense. Of course we are bad at praying because it does not seem like a skill that is worthwhile to invest in. The easiest way for Satan to get us to ignore God is not to challenge truth, but to keep us moving. Keep us busy.
You are too busy. You have said yes to too many things. You feel burdened to accomplish more than you can. You assume your worth is based on your schedule (and your lack of freedom in it).
Today, I encourage you to take seriously the words from Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God.”
I challenge you today to find 3 separate moments to simply be still for at least 2 minutes. No phone, music, task, or distraction. Simply be still.
The Starting Line for Prayer
The starting line for prayer is knowing God. Actually, Tyler Stanton phrases it differently: discovering the Father’s love. “The most important discovery you will ever make is the Father’s love, and it’s just that — a discovery.”
Do you know that God loves you and likes you?
Do you believe that God loves you and likes you?
Many of us assume that God exists, but we struggle to believe that the all-powerful and all-knowing God cares about us (especially when we fail Him so often).
The Bible is the story of how much God loves and likes you. From the beginning, every man, woman, and child has rebelled against God, and at every instance God has continued to seek relationship with those who have run off. This comes to a climax at the cross of Jesus, when our Savior willingly endures the punishment we deserve so that we can be accepted by God!
Reflect on this paragraph today:
“I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is that you are loved — loved right now without qualification or restriction, loved unconditionally for who you are, loved in a way you can’t lose. The bad news is that you find it very hard to believe that and even harder to experience it. Your instinct is, and will forever be, to try to drum up your own lovableness, to become lovable in some way you can define and control, to try to become in your own eyes what you already are in God’s. The good news is called grace; the bad news is called sin.”
— Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Stanton, p. 77.