We are a nation of fasters. We fast from chocolate, from carbs, from sweets in general, from diet sodas, from sodas, from television, from movies, from relaxing...and the list goes on...and we are miserable! Look around, we have created a society of misery! We sit at birthday parties eating our carrots and hummus while everyone else is enjoying their cake and ice cream, now I love carrots and hummus but come on people, eat the cake! But...I am the "pot calling the kettle black." I have joined the nation of fasters. I have fasted over the past year and oddly enough I am not miserable. For the past year I have fasted from frustration over failed expectations. And I have never been more joyful and more content. Over a year ago I read the quote from Ann Voskamp "Expectations kill joy." On the surface one could argue "yes, expectations kill joy," or "no, expectations do not kill joy," or "well....some expectations kill joy, but not all," but over the last year this finite mind has taken the surface of this quote and realized there is a much deeper implication. Ann Voskamp understands a deeper truth rooted in "Rejoice always, and again, I say rejoice." She understands that determining our joy based off of expectations will only result in misery disappointment and frustrations. And yes on a surface level expectations can be a good thing, expectations of the Father, expectations of the Son, expectations of the Holy Spirit...expectations in general can be a good thing and can bring joy. However, taking it deeper, taking it to the root of the statement, expectations can kill joy. "Rejoice always, and again, I say rejoice!"
As a customer, I have every right to expect my food be delivered to me in a timely manner, whether dine-in, take-out or delivery. I have the right to expect my food to be delivered timely, but what happens when there is an accident down the street and the delivery person is 10 minutes late, or a cook gets ill all of a sudden and my food is brought to me 15 minutes later than I feel is acceptable? Is my joy going to be killed? As a consumer, I have every right to expect a product to work and work as the company advertises. But what happens when my phone lock button stops working or my watches' timer breaks? Is my joy left locked with the product? As a parent, I expect my children to behave properly, I teach my children mold my children in the Word, but what happens when they choose a different path? Or what happens when they break down into a fit of rage in the middle of a store? Do I lose my joy? As a teacher, I expect my students to behave, to achieve great things, to make good grades, and I teach well and provide structure in my classroom, but what happens when my straight-A student fails a test? Or my students all decide to behave poorly, at the same time? Or my best student gets upset and walks out of class? Does my joy follow out the door behind? People will fail us, things will fail us, everything in this finite temporal world will fail us and the expectations we place on people, on objects, will at some point lead us to the choice- will I rejoice always? Or, will my expectations kill my joy? I can place well meaning expectations on people, on objects, on circumstances but there will come a time, there will come a moment when those expectations will not be met, and how I respond in that moment will result in a moment of frustration or a moment of choosing joy. Despite what expectation has been unmet, "Rejoice always, and again, I say rejoice."
As a believer, I know I can expect my Father, I can expect the Son, and I can expect the Holy Spirit to do, to provide, to be because Scripture is clear in the promises of each. The Triune God is the same yesterday today and tomorrow, this is a promise. His mercies are new every morning, this is a promise. He will bring comfort and peace, strength for today, hope for tomorrow, these are promises. And yes I can expect my Father to pour steadfast everlasting love and hold me in His arms daily and forever. But...what happens when your relative suddenly passes of a heart attack? Your infant niece passes after 7 short weeks on this earth? Your young uncle is diagnosed with ALS and passes away before seeing his own children graduate high school? Your doctors can not figure out what is going on in your leg and a year later you have to have surgery? Your bank account dwindles not from your own mismanagement but from medical bills and daily living? Your friends disown you? What happens when you feel like your prayers are being stuck in the ceiling of your room? Or you feel the Father does not hear your heart's desires and your innermost thoughts? On the surface the obvious answer is you run to Scripture, you search the promises of the Father, you speak back the Words of the Son to Him, and you ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with His presence and peace. Yes, these are all true...but sometimes our expectations of the Father in our finite minds are not met and we are faced with the decision do I still choose joy? Because as humans, we sometimes forget the eternal and live in the temporal. As humans, our finite minds place infinite expectations on humans and finite expectations on God. We place God-like expectations on humans and human-like expectations on God. We know we have a Triune God Who is omniscient omnipresent omnipotent, and we expect the humans in our lives to know exactly what we mean, to always be present, to never leave us, and we give them the power to dictate how we feel and how we act. We place these God-like expectations on the humans in our lives and they fail us. And in return, we place human-like expectations on our God and when we do not see prayers answered or our world is caving in, we believe He does not know our hearts, He is not powerful enough to do something, and He has left us alone to handle the situation. And the joy set before us is thrown to the side.
There is a reason 'rejoice' is stated twice. "Rejoice always, and again, I say rejoice." There is a reason joy comes before trials "Count it all joy when you face trials." Because the Father knew we would expect. The Father knew that our expectations would bring us to a point of choice, of choosing. The Father knew that our expectations of the world would be placed on Him in our finite temporal human minds. The Father knew that we would need the reminder that in all things, rejoice, that through all things, rejoice.
So I continue to fast. I continue to fast from placing God-like expectations on the people around me, I continue to fast from placing human-like expectations on the God Who will never fail me. I continue to fast from letting expectations of children's behavior, students' achievements, iPhone applications, food quality, weight gain, desires unfulfilled bring frustration and kill my joy. Yes, there are healthy expectations, yes there are expectations we must hold, but we have the power to choose how we respond when those expectations are not met, we have the power to choose how we respond to the Father when His desire and His plan is not the plan we had in our finite minds. He has given us the freedom to choose joy. Expectations can kill joy. Yet despite the expectations "Rejoice always, and again, I say REJOICE!"
As a customer, I have every right to expect my food be delivered to me in a timely manner, whether dine-in, take-out or delivery. I have the right to expect my food to be delivered timely, but what happens when there is an accident down the street and the delivery person is 10 minutes late, or a cook gets ill all of a sudden and my food is brought to me 15 minutes later than I feel is acceptable? Is my joy going to be killed? As a consumer, I have every right to expect a product to work and work as the company advertises. But what happens when my phone lock button stops working or my watches' timer breaks? Is my joy left locked with the product? As a parent, I expect my children to behave properly, I teach my children mold my children in the Word, but what happens when they choose a different path? Or what happens when they break down into a fit of rage in the middle of a store? Do I lose my joy? As a teacher, I expect my students to behave, to achieve great things, to make good grades, and I teach well and provide structure in my classroom, but what happens when my straight-A student fails a test? Or my students all decide to behave poorly, at the same time? Or my best student gets upset and walks out of class? Does my joy follow out the door behind? People will fail us, things will fail us, everything in this finite temporal world will fail us and the expectations we place on people, on objects, will at some point lead us to the choice- will I rejoice always? Or, will my expectations kill my joy? I can place well meaning expectations on people, on objects, on circumstances but there will come a time, there will come a moment when those expectations will not be met, and how I respond in that moment will result in a moment of frustration or a moment of choosing joy. Despite what expectation has been unmet, "Rejoice always, and again, I say rejoice."
As a believer, I know I can expect my Father, I can expect the Son, and I can expect the Holy Spirit to do, to provide, to be because Scripture is clear in the promises of each. The Triune God is the same yesterday today and tomorrow, this is a promise. His mercies are new every morning, this is a promise. He will bring comfort and peace, strength for today, hope for tomorrow, these are promises. And yes I can expect my Father to pour steadfast everlasting love and hold me in His arms daily and forever. But...what happens when your relative suddenly passes of a heart attack? Your infant niece passes after 7 short weeks on this earth? Your young uncle is diagnosed with ALS and passes away before seeing his own children graduate high school? Your doctors can not figure out what is going on in your leg and a year later you have to have surgery? Your bank account dwindles not from your own mismanagement but from medical bills and daily living? Your friends disown you? What happens when you feel like your prayers are being stuck in the ceiling of your room? Or you feel the Father does not hear your heart's desires and your innermost thoughts? On the surface the obvious answer is you run to Scripture, you search the promises of the Father, you speak back the Words of the Son to Him, and you ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with His presence and peace. Yes, these are all true...but sometimes our expectations of the Father in our finite minds are not met and we are faced with the decision do I still choose joy? Because as humans, we sometimes forget the eternal and live in the temporal. As humans, our finite minds place infinite expectations on humans and finite expectations on God. We place God-like expectations on humans and human-like expectations on God. We know we have a Triune God Who is omniscient omnipresent omnipotent, and we expect the humans in our lives to know exactly what we mean, to always be present, to never leave us, and we give them the power to dictate how we feel and how we act. We place these God-like expectations on the humans in our lives and they fail us. And in return, we place human-like expectations on our God and when we do not see prayers answered or our world is caving in, we believe He does not know our hearts, He is not powerful enough to do something, and He has left us alone to handle the situation. And the joy set before us is thrown to the side.
There is a reason 'rejoice' is stated twice. "Rejoice always, and again, I say rejoice." There is a reason joy comes before trials "Count it all joy when you face trials." Because the Father knew we would expect. The Father knew that our expectations would bring us to a point of choice, of choosing. The Father knew that our expectations of the world would be placed on Him in our finite temporal human minds. The Father knew that we would need the reminder that in all things, rejoice, that through all things, rejoice.
So I continue to fast. I continue to fast from placing God-like expectations on the people around me, I continue to fast from placing human-like expectations on the God Who will never fail me. I continue to fast from letting expectations of children's behavior, students' achievements, iPhone applications, food quality, weight gain, desires unfulfilled bring frustration and kill my joy. Yes, there are healthy expectations, yes there are expectations we must hold, but we have the power to choose how we respond when those expectations are not met, we have the power to choose how we respond to the Father when His desire and His plan is not the plan we had in our finite minds. He has given us the freedom to choose joy. Expectations can kill joy. Yet despite the expectations "Rejoice always, and again, I say REJOICE!"
