It’s Friday and that means it’s time for 5 Minute Fridays, where women from all over write for 5 minutes on a specific topic – no editing, no planning, no SEO – just writing. You can head over HERE to join the party!
The topic today is EXPECT.
I obviously don’t have time to look up the word expect since I only have five minutes, but the idea of expecting something means there is always the opportunity for disappointment isn’t there? How many times has someone let you down or not met your expectations in some way? It’s hard isn’t it.
Yet at the same time, I don’t want to become that person who always expects the worst of people either. I will confess that I have a tendency toward becoming cynical, so while I want to believe the best of everyone, experience has taught me – sometimes painfully – that sometimes it’s better to have no expectations rather than have them disappointed.
The thing is though, I can take that idea of low expectations and apply it to God. Because, let’s be honest, haven’t you prayed for something and the answer you got was No or maybe what felt like silence – and while you hate to admit it, you feel a little like God let you down. That He disappointed you. It can make you feel like you can’t expect from Him either.
But the truth is, God is always FOR us – even when His answer is NO. I was reading this morning in Lamentations about God’s lovingkindness and His mercy is new every morning. While we have no guarantee that God will always answer our prayers or orchestrate our lives the way we WANT Him to, we do have the assurance of His love and His presence.
We do have the promise that nothing – not even the demons of hell – can take us away from our Father’s love. There is a verse in Malachi (I think – again, that whole 5 minute thing means I can’t look it up!) that talks about waiting on the Lord with excited expectation.
I have to ask myself – do I wait on the Lord like that? Do I wait with great expectation to see what God is going to do – no matter the circumstance?
We have evidence in the form of His Word that some of God’s greatest glory showings came when His people were in the worst spots. I mean, God LED the children of Israel to the Red Sea. It looked pretty bleak, but He showed up BIG TIME.
In Ephesians it says that God does above and beyond anything we can ask or even think to ask. I don’t know about you, but I want to live my life with that kind of expectation. Anne Shirley often talked about the excitement of seeing what was around the bend in the road.
What’s your bend in the road and are you waiting for it with great expectation?
Blessings, Rosanne
3 Comments on 5 Minute Friday – Expect
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Hi there, your FMF neighbor here! #61 😉 I love your take on this. It was similar to the way I took mine, so your perspective helped me expand on my thinking. Love the thought on the verse in Ephesians, that God does above and beyond what we could ever imagine!
Thanks so much for stopping by! It’s so funny but a lot of the topics for FMF always seem to be something I’m thinking about or in someway are current in my life. Anyway, thanks for your kind words and visiting. I love FMF! 🙂
I love your thoughts on this. I agree that often expectations lead to disappointment but sometimes it does lead to us lowering our expectations of what God will do. This is a great reminder of his power to do things that far exceed our expectations, and to expect that he knows what is best for us, even if it is different from our ideas.