Great Expectations…
If I was to think about one of the recurring themes of the last 5 years of my life and the lives of the people around me it would be the realisation that life does not work out the way we planned it, dreamed or hoped it would be. We are not in the place we thought we would be at the age that we are right now. We thought we would be married/in a better job/ thinner/ more confident / have more friends … we thought, we hoped, we presumed. There’s a fall out that comes with that, a grief that the plan did not work out, a sense of failure and disappointment because we are behind schedule. Sometimes there’s a sense of anti climax – we are ahead of schedule so what do we do now – we got married at 22, we have the house, the car and the job – what next?
We need to bring our sadness before God and to deal with our disappointment with Him. We need Him to shed light on the darkness in our hearts and to restore our vision, renew us and transform us. We need Him to give us new dreams. We need Him to help us be faithful with what we currently have.
Increasingly I find with that conversations with my friends are beginning to change as we accept that although things are not running to schedule, that God does work all things together for the good of those who love Him. For some of us we are beginning to see the beauty that he is giving us for our ashes, we are beginning to see the fulfilment of dreams. For others there’s still waiting and hoping but there’s also the gift of new dreams and adventures we had not anticipated.
We have a choice as to the way we respond when our lives do not go to plan. We can become bitter and we can become anxious or we can trust that God has our times in his hands and he is working for our good, to bless us because He is good. Regardless of our circumstance we can trust Him.
Our response to the season of life we are in is crucial. We can either sit here and long for something else and MISS the moment we are in or we can embrace what we have right now and appreciate it for what it is whilst we are here. We do not need to strive ourselves into the places we think we should be, God has a purpose and a plan for us.
Psalm 31
19 Oh, how great is Your goodness,
Which You have laid up for those who fear You,
Which You have prepared for those who trust in You
In the presence of the sons of men!
20 You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence
From the plots of man;
You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion
From the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the LORD,
For He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a strong city!
22 For I said in my haste,
“I am cut off from before Your eyes”;
Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications
When I cried out to You.
23 Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints!
For the LORD preserves the faithful,
And fully repays the proud person.
24 Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart,
All you who hope in the LORD.