pastor's article 05-19-24

Expectation - a belief that something will happen because it is likely. 
Expectation is what usually leads us to really dread something in our future or really gets us excited about what lies ahead. Let’s face it, all of us think about the plans that we have for the future and, in our minds, we kind of play out how we think things are going to be. It doesn’t matter whether it is a date, a doctor’s appointment, a ball game, or a big meal, we look forward to it with either dread or delight.
There are three different types of expectation that I want you to think about. The first is high expectation, when we really build something up in our minds, so much so that it seems that it is going to be a once in a lifetime event that brings joy like we have never experienced. This is an expectation that keeps us up at night with giddy delight and, let’s be honest, usually leaves us a little disappointed after the event. High expectations usually leave us low and down in the dumps because we have built something up so much in our minds that there is no way it can measure up.
Then there are low expectations, when we really don’t think that our future experience with a person, place or thing is going to be all that great. In other words, we have allowed a pessimistic attitude to affect the expectation. Sometimes we sabotage our future because we very seldom give life a chance to be good when we approach it with low expectation.
A realistic expectation is when we live determined to make the best out of every circumstance, knowing that what we put into something greatly determines what we get out of it. If we know that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28), then we should have a realistic expectation that God has all things, and has good purpose for them, in our life. I pray that you will join me in trusting God with our future. 
 
Pastor,  
Rev. Wayne Marcus