Romans 5:5: Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Expectations – these are future events we have come to the conclusion that we expect to occur. But what thing or series of things do we observe to draw us to such a conclusion? In more instances than not, expectations take root from two primary sources – 1) input provided to us by a trusted family member, friend, or co-worker and/or 2) information we absorb through the environment or culture we choose to build our lives within. In either case, we’ve consciously or sub-consciously drawn on various pieces of information and arrived at a perceived certainty of a future outcome. Regardless if they are good or bad expectations, the reality of the future rarely matches what we’re so certain will happen or do they materialize within the timeframe we expect them to occur. The residue of unmet expectations – especially for those where there is hope of a positive outcomes – is disappointment, hurt, and a reduction in the trust of the sources we drew from to arrive at these expectations.
When we read the Bible, we read of countless times where God came to the rescue of either an entire nation (Israel) or just one person (Peter in jail in Acts 12, the adultress about to be stoned – John 8). We also read that God does not wish to see any perish – 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” After hearing such stories, it would be understandable for people to come to an expectation that God will always come to our rescue and solve all our problems. What constantly befuddles people is seeking to match our expectations with God’s will or plan – especially the timing of His actions. More often than not, sadly, people whose expectations were not matched with God’s will and His timing, build walls to a belief in, a faith in, and a relationship with God. The foundations of these walls are disappointment, hurt, and a reduction in trust of God’s true love and willingness to match His plan to their expectations.
Let’s observe Mary – the mother of Jesus. She is visited by the archangel Gabriel and is informed that she has “found favor with God”. Gabriel goes on to inform her, “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” Now put yourself in Mary’s position – she has just been visited by one of the top angels and has been told she is going to give birth to the Messiah. Wouldn’t it be natural to build up a few expectations of what your life is going to be like knowing you are going to be the mother of the Messiah?
Yet look at how Mary’s life unfolded from that point. From the day of His birth, she must lay him in a manger because there is no room at the inn, she is poor (people with little money sacrificed turtledoves or pigeons as opposed to lambs), and she and her family must run away from home to Egypt to avoid Jesus being killed by Herod. After his first couple of years, there isn’t much detail provided regarding Jesus’ childhood – certainly no evidence of some privileged existence given who Jesus was to become. Finally, she witnesses Jesus be wrongly accused, tortured, and crucified. From Mary’s earthbound perspective, it would seem reasonable for her to become disappointed, hurt, and questioning her trust of God’s love for her.
Two thousand years later we now have the benefit of seeing the entirety of God’s plan and glorious purpose for Jesus’ life on earth. Knowing what we now know, we could have offered comfort to Mary that God’s plan for her contribution to human history would bring eternal blessings to millions. While none of us are going give birth to the Messiah, maybe we can draw some comfort that despite God might not be meeting our expectations on our time, there can be very likely many blessings to God’s plan that we may never understand or even live long enough to witness. Remember, expectations are built from information from things we deem as trustworthy. The Bible tells us God cherishes us and loves us. It also tells us God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). If we can rest in these truths, it is possible that we can begin to change our view of the people and/or events God brings into our lives from stumbling blocks to realizing our expectations to blessings and evidence that God has a different and better plan for us. If we can do this, we can expect those feelings of disappointment, hurt, and a fading trust to be overwhelmed by what Paul tells us in today’s verse. What else would you expect from God?