Expectations

On the way to the Iowa State Fair on Wednesday our family was having a discussion about expectations and how what we expect shapes what we look for and what we look for shapes what we see. For example, if I expect the girls to be squirrely or out of control at inappropriate times, I'll look for that behavior so I can intervene to stop it, and since I'm looking for it, I'll probably see it.

The conversation caused me to think about what expectations I have right now for God. What do I expect God to be doing? Most of the time, I'd answer this with things that I expect God to be doing in the lives of those around me. I expect God to be comforting my friend who lost his dad. I expect God to be working in the hearts and lives of those in our congregation. At a closer level, I expect God to be helping our family as we transition to the start of the school year and as we process through a tough season of anniversaries of loss.

At seminary we read Psalm 139 many times. My prayer is that I also expect God to be doing this:

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
 test me and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me,
 and lead me in  the way everlasting.
-Psalm 139:23-24

As I expect, I look, and as I look, I will see the ways God is searching me, knowing me, testing me, and leading me. I expect that I will respond with obedience.

What are your expectations?

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Note: I struggled with the idea of stating expectations of God. God is so big and beyond my capacity to comprehend. I'm not intending to make God fit into my expectations because that would be ridiculous. But, I do want to interact with God in a way that indicates we have a relationship and relationships are full of expectations.