DayBreaks for 12/30/15: Great Expectations
In just two days the new year will come screaming in like a newborn baby. We don’t have much choice about it – there’s nothing we can do to stop its arrival. You may face the coming year with a bit of anxiety or even fear. No one can tell you what the new year will hold for you and your loved ones. We shall have to wait and see.
But that doesn’t mean we don’t all have hopes for the new year, and dare I say it, even expectations? Most all of us expect that our health will probably be about the same as it was in 2015. Most will be correct about that expectation. Some will not. Most of us expect to have another Christmas season to spend with our loved ones, but some will not have that blessing. Most expect that they’ll continue to be employed, but some will certainly receive pink slips in the coming year. Some who are sick now may be better by the end of 2016. Some who are now single will find love and life-time companions for the journey. Some are expecting little bundles of joy and will receive them.
Expectations are common to all of us. But what happens when our expectations are not fulfilled? How will you deal with the frustrated expectations you will experience this coming year? They may be related to your marriage, your children, your work, your school, friendships or other matters. One thing for sure is that you will have some unmet expectations.
Let me suggest this: don’t let them shatter your faith! Dreams may be broken, but that doesn’t mean you faith needs to be busted and destroyed. It is important to remember this about expectations and faith: faith increases when Jesus, rather than an expected outcome or result, is the object of our faith.
Here’s one expectation that we would all do well to hold tightly to this coming year: Jesus will never either leave us or forsake us. We may feel at times during this coming year that he is not there – but that’s more a problem with our expectation of how we sense his presence than the reality of his presence and concern.
Don’t let broken expectations break your faith. Hold tightly to it – and to Jesus!
TODAY’S PRAYER: Father God, as we prepare for what the coming year may hold, we ask you to keep our expectations in check and our response to unmet expectations serve to strengthen our faith rather than weaken or destroy it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
DayBreaks Devotions 