Whether you have realized this about yourself yet or not, you have expectations.
You have expectations of yourself. You have expectations of your friendships. You have expectations of your romantic relationships. You have expectations of church, Christians, non-Christians, God. You have expectations of your school, your professors, your community. You have expectations of your family, parents, grandparents, siblings. And more often than not, you have been disappointed because those expectations were failed to be met. Out of this disappointment comes one of the hardest questions to answer:
“Am I expecting too much?”
This is a question I have struggled with time and time again and unfortunately, have not found an exact answer . . . to that specific question. I have found answers to problems surrounding this question though. It’s OK-in fact it’s healthy-to hold expectations. Expectations hold us to higher standard of living as well as others. It helps us treat each other with respect and love. It may be easier to expect nothing out of people, so then you are never disappointed. But our various levels of expectations and then having those expectations met, is what helps us trust. It helps form bonds upon bonds and makes for a promising relationship.
The problem, however, is when the people we expected so much out of, fail us and we are left with frustration and sometimes anger. And we wonder if we were expecting too much and if we even have a right to be angry. Even though having expectations can be healthy, there is such a thing as misplaced expectations. That is, having expectations of others that only God can fulfill.
I expect my family to love me. I expect my friends to stay by my side. I expect my future husband to be faithful to me. But I cannot expect these people to be my everything and I cannot expect them to be the perfect solutions in my life. I also cannot expect them to be my standard in life. In fact, just as much as I expect the people in my life to love and respect me and be there for me, I have to expect, or least be ready, for them to mess up, too. I have to expect this because it will happen. It has happened.
Due to our sinful natures, people will disappoint and not meet our expectations, but that plays into the beauty of what we can expect of God. We can expect God to be faithful and to have a greater plan. We can expect Him to provide for us and to show His love in ways unimaginable to us. We can expect Him to carry through with His promises and be consistent in character. We can expect all these things in God and know that He will carry out a plan designed specifically for us to give Him the glory.
We can know that when it comes to God, there is no asking the question, “Am I expecting too much?” Instead we can ask the question, “Am I not expecting enough out of my Savior?” Because He and only He can exceed our expectations and blow our minds with His power.
