Expectations

It's that time of year again - when children and adults are making their lists and checking them twice. It begins early, this idea of sitting down and deciding what you want from Christmas. In our family, the boys used to grab the Sears "Christmas Wish Book" and circle what they'd like to have for Christmas. I can remember looking at the results of that with Bunny and laughingly saying "Is there anything on these pages that they haven't circled?"

A couple thousand years ago, it was the adults that were making lists. If God really loved them, He'd send:

A mighty warrior to throw off Roman oppression.
A king to rule them with law.
A provider, always willing to give them what they want.

And God sent a... baby.

14 All right then, the Lord himself will choose the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel—‘God is with us.’
Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 (Is 7:13-14).

In the passage this was lifted from, the prophet delivers the message that Israel doesn't really understand what God's will is. What they are asking for, expecting to receive, isn't what God had for them. So finally, Isaiah was told to tell them to revise their expectations. "The Lord Himself will choose the sign."

Can I ask you something? As you make lists, and pursue that which you want, can you really sense the peace of God? There are times I wonder if we've swapped the Prince of Peace for the Prince of Stress.

Take a moment today and see if your expectations might need corrections.

Grace!

David Wilson
www.newhopevalp.org