After thought and consideration, Tyler and I have decided to postpone our India trip till next summer, of 2010. Our reasons for doing this is more planning time, to allow more people to go, and to be finished with school when we go. I think this will allow us to be more fully present while we are over there because it will be the dawn of a new era in our lives having graduated weeks before hand.
My only fear is that we will get to busy, or to man opportunities will arise and we will not go to Calcutta. But we decide that, unless the Lord has other plans. On a more present note, and jumping off of the previous post, TRUSTING God has been a wild and peaceful ride. I am learning about God and His faithfulness, how He "rewards those who earnestly seek Him", Hebrews 11:6.
Here's a thought I've been pondering: Expectations. A friend recently stated he wanted to get a tattoo on his body (go figure) that said "No Expectations". This seems to be a fairly go motto to live by as you are never deceivingly looking for something to happen, or wanting yourself to experience something a certain way. Expectations seem to put whatever we put them on, in a box. Containing them to only what we think they should be or what outcome we deem desirable. I find I do this alot. I have expectations mostly of myself- i need to love or serve a certain way. I'm not loving God the way I should, or i'm not loving people the way I ought. These expectations of myself, of what a christian ---should be--- and of others around me place a viel of guilt surrounding all i do and a sense of failure; nothing I do is ever good enough. There is no celebration of a victory, just a sigh as I look at how I didn't quite meet this invisible bar, this standard that I have set for myself- not God. If God clled us to perfection, then Peter would be in hell!
With all these thought out there, and the ability to live without expecting this "perfection" life, the temptation is to apply this same notion to God. This is tricky. While putting expectations on God is somewhat placing Him in a box, He also tells us to do it. Like the Hebrews verse above implies... "He rewards those who earnestly seek Him". I have to believe that if I pursue Him, He will not only see me but reward me- if I ask, I will recieve. I believe the question is HOW will God chose to answer, reward, give... HOW will he choose to act on our behalf. From what I can see in others lives, our no expectations we place on God is the worse box we can put Him in. We think He can do nothing. Or He's to busy, our problem isn't that important. No Expectations bios down to the view that God is not good, but he is neutral. Read the heros of the faith, read the writers of your favorite hymns, talk for 5 minutes with some of your closest friends and it is obvious that our God is good. We can not only Expect that God is good, but we can rest in that and ask for more.
The only dangerous thing out expectations set on God is we narrow down how he speaks, he works, he loves, his presence. I am a HUGE narrower-downer. Anything I don't understand I usually avoid or try to ride off as being useless for the Kingdom. Bottem line: Expectations can be suffocating; they can led to inaction or passionless action. FREEDOM is the key. Expecting God to move is not bad or selfish, it is required of our faith. That's what He promised; we are not alone in this thing.
Love yall, I'll try to keep this blog updated as we get closer to the trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment