Have you ever expected more from people than from God? That doesn’t generally end well, does it? Though for the most part not intentional, people hurt people. Why? Because, other than Jesus, we are all sinners and fall short of His glory. We must be cautious of misplacing our expectations.
Over the summer I experienced a string of events in a short period of time that could be classified as hurt/rejection/disappointment. Call it whatever you like. The point is I didn’t handle these incidents very well. I expected too much from people and ended up disappointed. The first couple people probably never even knew they let me down. I believe that is often the case. We shrug it off and get over it in time without even a discussion. Though the third episode was purely accidental (and also an admittedly minor offense), it was that one that caused the greatest reaction from me. The accumulation of hurt feelings caused me to react more strongly to the one that should have been the easiest to overlook. That, and the fact that this person realized I was hurt and opened the door for me to address it.
As I worked through this with God over the next few days, He led me to this verse:
“A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.”
Proverbs 19:11 NIV
My lack of wisdom led to a knee-jerk reaction. In short, I blew it when I failed to overlook the offense. Thankfully, over the course of a few days, we had both forgiven one another and moved forward. The relationship was restored; the lesson was learned. However, I’m sure I’ll get opportunities to relearn it along the way.
Misplaced expectations lead to disappointment, even though that’s the very thing I’m trying to avoid. As a defense mechanism of sorts, I tend to keep my expectations of God low so as not to be disappointed if things don’t work out as I wish. That is warped thinking for sure, not to mention a serious lack of faith! The truth is, He’s the only one who WON’T let me down. He knows me, loves me and knows what’s best for me. Even when things don’t work out as I had hoped, I can be assured that they work out in the way that is best.
“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”
Romans 8:28 NLT