expectations…
Today, my son began the tournament play for his baseball team. We are seated third in a double elimination round robin tournament. I printed the tournament bracket and did my tournament predictions…(just like the NCAA bracket, I’m a fanatic about predicting the outcome!) I had our team getting to the championship game and winning it all! What optimism! I had high expectations!
As I type this blog, we lost our first game and now playing in the losers bracket. Unfortunately, my expectations are shattered! I share this experience to set the stage for my dialogue about expectations…we have them for every part of our lives…we even have expectations set for God!
Do you feel that you are losing and playing in the loser’s bracket, scrimping out, barely hanging on to a slight advantage? Have you said, “Life is not fair!”? Are your expectations shattered?
It wouldn’t be so bad, if you didn’t feel that about God. Unfortunately, when life stinks, God is the easy one to blame! Isn’t He God? Couldn’t He just stop the madness and give you a reprieve?
I love the verses in Hebrews 12: 1-3…Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
I’ve italicized the last sentences to highlight Jesus’ expectation…the joy awaiting him…Jesus endures the cross, disregarding its shame because of the joy waiting him…What is the joy waiting Jesus? The answer lies in the context of Hebrews…Jesus’ joy is those of us who would come to a personal knowledge of His saving grace. The author of Hebrews encourages us to run the race with endurance! In light of broken expectations, we should continue to keep our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.
Don’t give up…it’s not over, we can still win the loser’s bracket! And get to the championship game and win it all!
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How greatly this ties in with what Ps George spoke of on Sunday…..we come to get NEW strength from the Lord as Isaiah wrote. Today is different from Sunday and things are not as rosy, but my champion is Jesus and He’s the only prize I need.
The idea of blaming God when we mess up reminds me of the verse from Proverbs 19:3 “A man’s own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the Lord” Thanks for the great words of encouragement, Fel.
Thanks for posting, Alice…I am glad that you responded…that verse touches the area where Grace Adventure is so powerfully used by the Lord–the heart!