Hope vs. Expectations

Proverbs 10:28 The hope of the righteous will be gladness, But the expectation of the wicked will perish.

Hope is something firm, expectations are more shifting, more dangerous and more prone to being misplaced. The natural pull is for us to have certain expectations. We expect our mate to do or be something, we expect our jobs to be fulfilling and financially rewarding. We expect our church to be a place where we can "be fed". We may even have expectations of God. I notice that more often than not my expectations are prone to being just that, MY expectations.

Here is the painful truth for me: just because I expect it does not mean God has to do it. When our expectations are not met we become disappointed. A good way to avoid that might just be to ground ourselves in what God says we can hope in rather than in what we think we have a right to expect. What can we "hope" in? Only in what the Bible tells us and in the dreams God gives us. And of course "in Christ who is our hope" (1 Tim. 1:1).

May your hope bring gladness your way today.

Blessings in Christ alone