Right Kind of Expectations

You know how it is–The Big Day Blues. 

Special occasions like anniversaries, birthdays (or how about the big one, Christmas?) … when big days roll around, there is a high level of energy that goes with it.  We have expectations.  We have ideas on how it’s “supposed” to go and although it’s not a bad thing to be a planner, or like a good friend of mine calls herself, “type A personality,” there is a peace in letting go if things don’t pan out like we want. I am still a youngster (at heart), however I’ve accumulated enough birthdays to have learned a valuable lesson: letting go of the idea that one day is any more special than the next.

Our days are not the only things we put expectations on.  How about our relationships? We have a right to expect certain things, like to be treated well. But nothing will choke out a connection with someone like the strangle hold of high expectations and demands.  People, whether they mean to or not, are prone to let us down.

There’s Someone who will never let us down.

I think when we let go of how things “should” be, when we let people off the hook, when we do not expect them to keep us happy, when we love them where they are, we walk in grace and the torture of unmet expectations loses its sting.  There is One though who we can expect things from.  Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, they are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”  We can trust Jesus, we can expect great things from Him.

Do you push people away by expecting them to be a certain way?  Do you get “Big Day Blues” from high expectations instead of going with the flow?