Have you ever found yourself working online, expecting that your internet connection will simply continue to keep you plugged into the world, when all of a sudden, inexplicably, you find that you’re offline?
I have, just now.
Have you ever found yourself sitting in a coffee shop, expecting that the latte you just ordered will arrive piping hot, only to have it served to you luke warm?
I have, just now.
Life is full of expectations, which are formed by our culture, our character, and our own experiences.
I’m sitting in London’s Heathrow Airport, where for the past few hours I’ve had a series of hit and miss experiences with my expectations. And while I can honestly say that none of these have been particularly inconvenient, in just a few hours I expect that my perspective will be utterly shaken.
I’m en route with a group of Canadian pastors to South Africa, where my friends at World Vision will be guiding us through the work they’re doing in some of the country’s most impoverished regions. In these communities expectations are very different. They think very little about the consistency of their internet connection, or the temperature of their coffee.
In communities ravaged by AIDS, where there is a lack of clean drinking water and where food sources are scarce, expectations are decidedly different. And I fully expect that in the coming days, as we immerse ourselves in this very different reality, that my own expectations will be turned upside down.
At least, I’m praying this is so.
And so as we board our London to Johannesburg flight I’m praying that God will use this experience to help me identify any expectations I’ve been clinging to that He would have me release.
And in doing so, I trust that my heart will be softened to what He would have for me in these coming days.
What expectations might you be clinging to that God would have you release?
