Expectations

“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘See, I will beckon to the nations,
 I will lift up my banner to the peoples;
 they will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their hips.  Kings will be your foster fathers, 
 and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground; 
 they will lick the dust at your feet.
 Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.’” (Isaiah 49:22-23 NIV)

We tend to have a lot of expectations of life.  We have been told by our parents, teachers, politicians, and celebrities that we “can achieve anything we want in life,” if we only work hard at doing it.  Marriage is often portrayed as something that is idyllic and comes easily if two people are deeply in love.  And there are pastors out there proclaiming God wants the faithful to be rich and happy.  All of these messages create expectations of a life that goes the way we want it.  The truth, however, is it never does.

We live in a fallen world, a world that is broken by sin.  The reality of this world is a lot of disappointment.  The Lord was speaking through Isaiah to a people disheartened by life.  Their history, to that point, had been marked by much suffering, heartache, and sorrow, most of which they had brought upon themselves by not trusting in the Lord.  

The Israelites had had expectations of what life would be like after they left Egypt.  They were quickly disappointed (Exodus 16:1-3).  And throughout the Old Testament this disappointment is repeated over and over.  Consistently, their expectations of life fell short.  As a result, they often turned away from the Lord and became bitter.

At the very outset, the Lord warned them to have no other gods besides Him or to worship any idols (Exodus 20:3-6).  But in their disappointment, they quickly and often violated these two commands.  As a result, disappointment followed disappointment.  By the time Isaiah came onto the scene, the Israelites were a despondent and disillusioned people. And what the Lord told them remains applicable to us today: “Those who hope in me will not be disappointed.”

In order to avoid becoming bitter about life, our hope must be in the Lord. Inevitably, there will be many disappointments during our lives.  If our response is to turn from God, then we ensure disappointment will follow disappointment.  

Today, know the Lord has your best interests in mind.  When life hands you what you don’t expect, remember His promise made through Isaiah. Ultimately, you won’t be disappointed if you remain faithful to Him.  

© Jim Musser 2014