12 Days of Christmas 2017 - Day 6: Anticipation and Expectation
Have you ever waited and waited for something to happen, only to be met with letdown? I have…many times. Like when I watched Star Wars Episode 4 for the first time two years ago. Or when my someone raved about this restaurant’s food. After watching/eating, I was, like, “That’s it??”
Now, I know those things are both petty, but I’m here to talk to you about something important; Jesus’ birth. This was something that was promised from the beginning of time. Additionally, some of the prophets would prophesy things that would happen at His birth. Talk about hyped up! I’ll bet there were some Jews that were really excited and hoping they would be the generation to meet the Savior. They probably envisioned Him arriving in a palace. And yet…when Jesus came, there was a huge letdown, even rejection by His own people during His ministry. That’s pretty brutal. I mean, it was God’s own Son – God incarnate – and people looked at Him and were, like, “Nope, that lunatic can’t be the Savior we’ve been waiting for.” Even when Jesus performed miracles they denied it.
Maybe you’re thinking, “I wouldn’t say that. I’d be different than them.” Let me ask you this: have you ever doubted? Have you ever rejected God’s plan for you? Have you ever been so blind by your own plan that you couldn’t even see God’s? (That is probably your cue to say “yes.”) If you’re human you likely said yes to at least one of those things. The root of this problem, friends, is having the wrong expectations. We can build up so much anticipation with this expectancy in our minds of everything that we dream it’ll end up like. And then what? And then God shows you that that something is not always how we expected it. When this happens, we have two options: ignore the situation and repeat the same mistake, or learn from the situation and reap the benefits. What’s your choice? Would you rather stick to your plan while risking not seeing or ignoring God’s plans or would you rather give your trust to God and accept His plan for you? It may not be what you wanted it to be, but sometimes the best things happen in humble places.
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