Expectation...both good and bad?

{It's Friday and we're linking up with Gypsy Mama for Five Minute Friday!}

Expectation makes me shiver....shiver with delight, as I meditate on the glory God will reveal both in this life and the next, but also shiver with dismay, as I think back on all the legalistic, oppressive expectations I have set for myself, for others.  Expectation is both good and bad.

The good...

Being expectant with hope is the essence of Christianity.  As Paul says, if we do not have the hope of eternity, we are of all people the most pitied!  Why would we suffer and struggle though this imperfect life, if not because of our Savior and in expectation of the great and glorious plans He has for us in the eternal kingdom!  {remind me, please, that this world is not all there is??}  Hope is something that we all cling to in our life here on earth, as well.  Whether good or bad, and I've heard arguments for both, hope to see this or that happen in our mundane, every day lives sustains us.  Yes, of course we hope to truly HOPE in the right things, but the little joys are certainly wonderful too!  I think of the expectant bride, the pregnant woman, the college grad, the home-bound soldier, and the dying saint, all full of hope in what is to come.

The bad....

Source

I watched the man from afar, grumbling as he walked throughout the store, saying something about not finding what he wanted. 'It just figures' he said, as the clerk told him that the item he wanted was back-ordered.... Then there was the party we had all hoped would be a wonderful event, the park pavilion reserved and the cookie plates all perfectly arranged...and then the rain came!  Or even my hopes and dreams that my husband would do this or that for me, that life would be more fulfilling, that someone would be calling me 'Mom' by now. Expectations cause disappointment, you know this, right?  I know it too well.  And yet, I still expect perfection at times from myself and others.  I expect life to deliver to me what only eternity, and my Savior, can provide.  Do you do the same?

Okay, five minutes is up.  But now is your chance to adjust your expectations....what are YOU hoping in?

Blessings,
Ruth