As we begin a new year we all come expectant that God will move and new doors of opportunity will open up. Expectations are great so long as we are expectant in the things God has promised us. The problem arises when we want things that we think God wants for us. Sometimes our expectations can seem noble and we try and make things fit, hoping that God will endorse it. However, I am so aware that as time marches on, as we get older, we have less time to focus on what we think we want. Now we need to be more concerned with doing only what God wants.
I know many in the body of Christ are disappointed that certain things haven’t happened the way they thought, or what they thought would happen hasn’t happened at all. Sometimes the complete opposite happens from what you thought. This is where our expectations have gone awry. Somehow in our journey with God we have slightly deviated off course. It can seem that the time has been wasted, or that what we thought would happen, will not happen now.
The Dictionary meaning of expectation: it believes that something is going to happen or believing that something should be a certain way. Always accompanying expectations is an eager anticipation. There is an excitement in our spirits - a deep felt joy.
In times past it was often said when a woman was pregnant she was expecting. Expectations are like the baby we carry, waiting for the appointed time of their delivery. You know it has to happen; there is no turning back, no matter what the baby will be delivered. So it is with those things we hope for in God, the dreams, and visions that have been sown deep on the inside of us, often many years earlier.
We have expectations for our call, our ministries. Often attached to the expectations are our mental pictures. Our minds work overtime in anticipation for what is coming. We can work out ways for things to happen quickly, maybe pushing doors open that the Lord never wanted for us. It happens subtly but before you know it we have made things happen in our own strength.
The truth is: we can make things happen. It doesn’t mean God is in it. It may appear to be so, however, over time there is no fruit, or what was meant to be a very powerful ministry has faded away. Let’s think about it: how many ministries have come and gone, often leaving devastated people as a result? Was God ever in it in the first place? How many people are disillusioned because what they thought would happen hasn’t happened? Sadly many have even walked away from God because of wrong expectations. God is not a ‘sugar daddy’. Often prophetic words have been misinterpreted, taken out of context, or manipulated to make it fit a desire that might not even be what God wants. Unfortunately this happens all too often.
Perhaps one of the biggest problems with expectations is the timing. At the APPOINTED TIME – this is a crucial key to having our expectations met.
The appointed time – exactly on time, not a moment too late or a moment too soon. It is the Kairos time. It is God’s perfect timing! Everything is in place. We are prepared, other people are ready, and the influence and effectiveness will result in incredible change.
Habakkuk 2:3
For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry.
One of the biggest traps we can fall into is striving. This often occurs when the enemy is pushing and pushing us even when we know deep down we should not be doing something. Striving is often birthed out of rejection – doing something to receive acceptance and approval. If we are driven in our character, it can easy make us do something, not necessarily for God, but because it gives us a ‘false high’ with the adrenaline rush of having to do something. Striving will block and stop us coming into an appointed time. This is more so when we see the vision, we know it is close, and we have no doubt that we are able to do what the Lord requires of us.
Striving and performance are contrary to the Spirit of God. He is a God of free will and will not make us do something because we have to, but rather because we want to. We want to because the Lord has equipped us and trained us ready to do His Kingdom purposes.
We live in a time when we need to be exactly on time, in God’s appointed plan for our lives. We need to watch that we don’t preempt something because of expectations.
