Breaking Free of the Expectation Trap

Have you ever felt that nothing you do has any value? Have you ever believed that there is nothing you can say that will ever make a difference? Have you ever known the burden of expectation that seems out of reach? If you are human, then at some point in your life you have experienced rejection, discouragement, despair, and pain. At some point you have felt that you were just not good enough. “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7a, NKJV). If I believe I am worthless, I feel worthless. Whether I realize it or not, I “do unto others” what has been done unto me. If I have been labeled (either by others or by myself) as never quite being good enough, then I pass that negativism along in my expectations of those I love. If I see myself as being beyond hope, then I see others in the same light.

Into this seemingly endless cycle of human emotion, expectation, and despair at never quite being good enough, God attempts to break into our generational bondage. He waits to speak life to all that we have suffered in our past, life to our present, and life to our future. He wants who we are to be found in Him alone. He wishes for us to realize that unlike what expectations we may have felt from others, whether real or imagined, His expectation is thoroughly attainable. He sees the promise in our lives where others might not see it. If we truly listen to Him and obey His instruction, then we will find release from our human failures. We will discover who we really are. In His love, we can break that bondage of despair and frustration. We can do more than just hope one day to be free of all that has defined who we are. We can choose to really be free.

“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child” (1 Corinthians 13:11a, NIV). Just like me, you, also, were once a child. Those who loved you watched you struggle to crawl or learn to walk. They watched every movement you made, expecting to see miraculous change. They rejoiced over you when you achieved a new accomplishment. They were sad when you failed. But you were just a little one wanting to me loved for who you were, and wanting to feel loving and accepting arms. You didn't want to be watched for what you might become. You wanted to loved for who you were at that moment. God loves you right in your moment, and He sees you crying out to be accepted. When you allow His unconditional love into your heart, you open the door for Him to break the bondage of the expectation trap. You begin to see yourself through His eyes. And one day when you are free to understand His promised potential for your life, what others think or do will not determine your attitude or your outcome.

I pray that God gives each one of us His eyes to see the potential not only in ourselves, but in others. I pray we learn to speak life to each heart instead of death. To speak blessing instead of failure. To speak joy instead of despair. To see promise instead of failure. To believe in what cannot be seen, and to know that one day it will be true.