There is a subtle yet significant difference between having expectations and having faith. As I went through my week, God reminded me how often our expectations can set us up for disappointment and needless negative feelings that He does not want us to have. I believe God wants to show us the importance of faith as we learn to let go of our limiting expectations.
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Faith is believing even when we can’t see. It’s trusting that God has a plan for our lives, even when we don’t understand it. We can relinquish our expectations and embrace God’s will when we have faith. Letting go of our expectations doesn’t mean we don’t have goals or dreams. It means we’re open to the possibility that things might go differently than our plan.
I have met men and women who expected to be married or have children by a certain age. I have also met men and women who just expected to be further along in some aspect of life, like buying a house, having a stable career, or being financially stable. Releasing expectations and holding on to faith means we trust that God is in control and always has our best interests in mind. In this post, I’d like to share my testimony of exchanging expectations for faith and use Biblical examples to illustrate this idea.
My Testimony About Letting Go of Expectations
After I finished four years of studying to get my educational doctorate, I expected to land a different job. I envisioned working in a university. I applied to several colleges and universities but did not hear anything. I did not even receive a phone interview. My expectations had led to disappointment, and I wondered whether or not I had wasted my time and money.
After placing several job applications and hearing nothing, I started the school year as usual in my elementary school buildings. COVID-19 came that year, and looking back now, I know that God was saving me from real frustration by allowing me to stay in a familiar place at this time. When everyone began to work from home, I could quickly do the job I already knew how to do, and it was during our time at home that God led me to begin this blog. If I had had a new job, working from home would’ve been much more challenging. I’m thankful God gave me more than I expected.
After COVID-19 was no longer causing us to stay home from school, I realized that I wanted to work with graduate students who are learning to become speech-language pathologists, and I could do that in my current job by taking on externs. I now know that what I expected to do with my educational doctorate is not all God had in mind. He has equipped me to be a teacher in every aspect, and I must trust him to use the education He gave me for his glory as I surrender it to him.
Trading Our Expectations For Hope and Faith
As we look at the Word of God, we find that God often challenges our thinking. He frequently exceeds our expectations and rarely does things the way we think He will. Therefore, it is best to relinquish our expectations in every situation because they can be limiting. Expectations derive from our beliefs about what will happen in the future based on past experiences. Synonyms for expectations indicate assumptions or predictions.
Sometimes, our expectations are correct, and everything goes according to plan, but sadly, there are too many times when it seems our expectations do not come to fruition. When situations do not turn out how we imagined, we can feel troubled, angry, and confused. Being let down in this way can prevent us from seeing the possibilities that exist in the present moment.
God wants us to have hope and faith. He wants us to rely on Him, be strong in faith, and trust His ways. Faith is about trusting in God amid the unknown and believing He will work things out for the best. Faith is also about relinquishing control over how God will work something out based on our expectations. Instead, we must let God have His way in every circumstance. Lastly, faith is about making room for things to be different than the past, other than we thought, and better than expected.
Biblical Examples of Letting Go Of Expectations
In the Bible, many examples exist of someone relinquishing expectations to receive God’s best. Naaman was a commander of the army of the king of Syria. He was a great and mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. Naaman went to the prophet and took gold, silver, clothing, and even a letter from the king.
When Naaman reached the door of Elisha, the prophet’s house, Elisha sent a messenger to tell him to “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” Naaman was angry and went away, saying that he thought the prophet would come out of the house, stand, call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure him. He almost gave up and went away, but his servants convinced him to obey and wash in the river. Naaman had to let go of his expectations and do as the prophet said, and he was clean.
Abraham and Sarah heard and believed that God would give them a child, but based on their understanding, they thought they needed to have a slave girl be a surrogate because Sarah was too old. They did not expect God to do something different and give her a child in her old age (Genesis 21:1-7).
The people in Noah’s day may have heard Noah tell them day after day that it would rain, but this had never happened before, and they wrongly assumed that it never would. Wisely, Noah placed his trust in God and exercised his faith. He followed instructions, began building, and believed God would do as promised and save Him and his family. Noah had never seen rain or a boat either, but he chose to trust the voice of God over his own experiences and expectations (Genesis 7).
Have Faith in the Creator Who Exceeds Our Expectations
We must trust that God, our Creator, is all-knowing and full of love. He has good things in store for us, but His plans may be different than we think. We can not understand everything or adequately predict the future, so it is better to rely on the one who knows all. God’s thoughts are above our thoughts, and we must trust Him by faith. Our faith grows as we watch him meet our needs and exceed our expectations daily. We learn to remain open-minded based on our faith journey, personal encounters, and teachings from the Bible.
We should never reach a point where we believe God always does something a certain way. No matter what we believe based on experience, we must be open enough to remember that God is the Creator and a miracle worker specializing in exceeding expectations. As we navigate challenging or mundane situations, we need to have hope that everything will work out, but faith is more profound than just a feeling of optimism. Faith acknowledges that we have an all-powerful Heavenly Father.
We must learn to let our faith in God provide us with hope, comfort, and strength because we know someone greater than us controls everything. Our Heavenly Father is a God who can shatter all limiting expectations if we have faith and allow Him the opportunity to demonstrate His goodness. Faith means following instructions, doing our part, and walking with God. We don’t just pray and wait until it all works out. We pray and do what God tells us to do while we believe God for a miracle.
Hope and faith are powerful forces that are much better when we let go of expectations. Hope allows us to see the potential for positive outcomes, even when things seem bleak. It can give us the motivation to persevere in the face of challenges. The feeling of genuine optimism comes from within when we embrace that we are children of the Almighty and learn to put our faith and trust in His wisdom, ability, timing, and goodness.
Let’s Pray to Let Go Of Our Expectations
Let’s pray with faith, letting go of expectations as we trust that even if things don’t seem to turn out the way we expect, everything will turn out the way God wishes and, therefore, exceed our expectations.
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