"But Naaman went away angry and said, "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy."
(2 Kings 5:11) Naaman came with expectations. He expected Elisha, the prophet of God, to do a certain thing in a certain way to heal him, and when his healing did not go the way that he expected, he 'went away angry.' Rather than coming out to see Naaman, a respected commander in the army of the king of Aram, Elisha sent a messenger out to him and told him to dip seven times in the Jordan River in order to be cleansed of his leprosy. Naaman's expectations almost kept him from his healing. Thankfully his servants talked him off the cliff of anger and pride; he did what Elisha told him and was healed after his seventh dip in the Jordan. An expectation is a pre-conceived notion of the way things should go; it's a strong belief that something will happen as we perceived it to. We all have expectations. Maybe you expected your job to always be there and now it's not. Maybe you expected the doctor to say, 'You're cancer free!' but instead they say, "I'm sorry, the cancer has come back and it's spread.' Maybe you expected your baby to be born healthy and strong, but instead you find yourself on your knees praying for them to be well, as they lay there with tubes and wires running in all directions. Maybe you expected you would pass away long before your children, but you find yourself weeping as you place more flowers next to your son's grave. This is not what we expect. We expect things to go right, be right, for all to be well in our world...but life isn't like that, not real life. At every place where our expectations are thwarted, when what we thought would happen didn't; we have a decision to make, a choice in how we respond. At the point of decision we can either stay in the paradigm we have always stayed in and become disillusioned, depressed, or fearful, OR we can choose a new paradigm. When hard, unexpected things happen, when the rug is pulled out from underneath us, when the job is gone, the diagnosis is bad, our loved one is not coming back---there is a place we can go where our expectations meet an end, and our hope begins. My life is not where I expected it to be. I have known outrageous abuse, terrifying sickness, deep loss, and profound rejection...yet I have hope and the kind of joy that you wear like a warm blanket on a bitter cold day. How is that possible? It is possible because every time I come, every time I kneel, every time I pray and yield; He is always more than I ever expected. If the job is gone; He is my Provider. If the cancer is back; He is my Healer. If the child dies; He is my Comfort and I can rest in the hope and knowledge that I will hold them in my arms again. My expectation is in Him. All other expectation can and often does fall short of what we envisioned. I can expect Him to always be in control. I can expect Him to always triumph. I can expect Him to keep His word. I can expect Him to be faithful and true. I can expect Him to never fail. I can expect Him to never leave me or forsake me. I can expect Him to make all things right. I can expect Him to restore. I can expect Him to be God yesterday, today, and forever. We may not know what to expect tomorrow...but we can expect Him to be there sheltering, holding, uplifting, carrying, being our all in all, no matter what, for all of time and eternity. Expectation When my heart is heavy tears flowing wave after wave When all is darkness I expect Him to save When pain is unrelenting When fear is the only gage When shadows surround I expect Him to save When words fall like hammers every one placed in rage When my confidence is shattered I expect Him to save When the relationship is over When everything was all I gave When sorrow covers like a shroud I expect Him to save His love is never failing He knows my inner ache I will forever trust Him I expect Him to save He holds all my expectations He knows my every stage He is my hope for always I expect Him to save Written by Anne Marie Hawke April 2020 If you would like to subscribe to my blog or find out more about my writing please visit my website at hawkewriter.com
6 Comments
Lisa
4/18/2020 02:18:37 am
This was encouraging! Thank-you!
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Lisa
4/18/2020 05:30:13 am
Beautifully written Anne Marie! Truth as we know it!
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Brenda
4/18/2020 06:46:48 am
Thank you so very much for putting into words the emotions and feeling we are dealing with at this crazy time we are living.
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Annie
4/18/2020 12:24:33 pm
THANK YOU for the beautiful reminder and restoration of hope and faith.
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Kim Motley
4/20/2020 08:08:30 pm
For me a timely reminder that people will disappoint and hurt us, but our God is always there for us. As usual, beautifully written Anne!
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