Great Expectations

In every relationship...expectations will exceed results at some point.

Take it to the bank.

Count it.

Automatic.

It might be your best friend putting you in the backseat because a new love interest has taken the front seat.

It might be your fellow journeymen on the highway, not driving to your high level of road operation.

It might be your spouse not doing the dishes up.

It might be your church not coming to your side at a crisis point.

It might be your congregation choosing to serve their own stomachs over serving the Most High God.

It might be your pastor not feeding you from the Word like you desire.

It might be your God, not answering your prayers in the correct manor.

The fact is that part of our lives in relationship with others is filled with Unrealistic Expectations. Other times, people just flat out disappoint. They don't do what we want when we want it or how we want it. But the flipside is that I am a person too. I fall short, don't step up or achieve others expectations of me. This is the tension in relationships and community.

Some will push others out or away because they are always let down and disappointed by them. Others will strive their whole lives to make sure they meet everyone's expectations of them and they become a chameleon...Being different things in different crowds, but having no autonomy or personal character or consistency.

So the real question is whether we can reorient our lens? Is it possible to think the best of people in their failures and shortcomings rather than the worst? Is it possible that we see people through the lens of the cross rather than the lens of our own expectations?

So when the driver cuts you off...you see that maybe they weren't plotting with the rest of the world to screw up your trip or your day, but that they just maybe made a mistake or are even in such a hurry because they are late that they failed to make a good decision.

When the spouse fails to keep the house clean or have dinner on the table or (fill in the blank), you choose love rather than fingerpointing, arguing and bitterness.

LOVE WINS. It's the story of the Bible. It's supposed to be the story of our lives. We just need to live it.