I am closely acquainted with expectations. I have in mind exactly how things should go on my birthday, vacation, holiday, or any other experience. At this time of year, I’m taking some ques from Mary, Jesus’ mother, who learned to expect the unexpected. She became a role model for us when it comes to expectations.
Right here at Christmas, I am minding my p\u2019s and q\u2019s (i.e., paying attention to the details). There were plenty of details that surrounded Mary\u2019s \u201cyes\u201d. Right here (in her season of surrender), I want to be like her when it comes to her actions, reactions, and her ways of overcoming disappointments when things don\u2019t turn out like we imagined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here is what I\u2019ve learned about what NOT to expect from building up expectations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Don\u2019t build expectations on SOMEONE. Mary, once she learned she was carrying the Messiah, could have built expectations on her fianc\u00e9, Joseph. She needed assistance to fulfill this God-sized plan, but for all she knew, Joseph would leave her once he learned she was pregnant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mary responded to the angel with, \u201cI am the Lord\u2019s servant.\u201d (Luke 1:38a) She could only control her own reactions \u2013 not Joseph\u2019s or anyone else\u2019s. She obeyed and followed through because her focus was on God alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May we be intentional with our expectancy on the only One Who will never fail us \u2014 Jesus. If disappointment comes our way this Christmas and in the new year, we can remind ourselves that we are all human, and only our perfect Father will never disappoint us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Don\u2019t build expectations on SOMETHING. The angel made it clear that Mary had \u201cfound favor with God\u201d (Luke 1:30). Yet how would this \u201cfavor\u201d impact her life, especially her reputation? If Mary set her expectations on something like her reputation or a perfectly executed plan, she would have been disappointed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The best plan is to pray for God\u2019s favor on us and if disappointment comes \u2013 like being pregnant and having to leave home to travel to Bethlehem because of a census or no room in the inn or hearing that King Herod was set on killing baby boys \u2013 we can rest assured, God\u2019s plans are so much greater than our disappointments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. Don\u2019t build expectations on SOMEPLACE. When Mary received her news, she actually left home where she was most comfortable. Each of us has a someplace we would prefer to celebrate Christ\u2019s birthday. She found her \u201chome\u201d in God as she followed His assignment for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether we are excited or disappointed about where we\u2019ll be this Christmas, let\u2019s see it as our assignment to bring Christ there. Mary chose to embrace the changes God brought into her life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oh my! I am a veteran at changes. I calculated the number of places I have lived since marrying my Ron to today \u2013 26! Lord, have mercy! And, with each move, we settled in and embraced the new season. Blessings were had because we trusted in God\u2019s master plan for our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I do so want to follow Mary\u2019s lead. I have learned that God uses changes and even disappointments to develop confidence in me. This once intimidated and shy girl learned God uses everything to make us into vessels of honor for His use. If we build our expectations and confidence on Christ alone, when there\u2019s a change of plans \u2013 we will go in His favor and the flow of God\u2019s amazing grace.
\u201cFor I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, \u201cplans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.\u201d Jeremiah 29:11<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I am closely acquainted with expectations. I have in mind exactly how things should go on my birthday, vacation, holiday, or any other experience. At this time of year, I’m taking some ques from Mary, Jesus’ mother, who learned to expect the unexpected. She became a role model for us when it comes to expectations.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25415,25414],"tags":[1210,1769,251,25411,3777,3204,3248,2794,25356,40,271,4178,540,542,6884,25412,139,25413],"class_list":["post-17287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-change-of-plans","category-expect-the-unexpected","tag-blog","tag-christian","tag-christmas","tag-expect-the-unexpected","tag-expectancy","tag-expectation","tag-gods-favor","tag-gods-plans","tag-i-am-the-lords-servant","tag-inspiration","tag-jeremiah-2911","tag-jesus-mother","tag-joseph","tag-mary","tag-marys-yes","tag-overcoming-disappointment","tag-surrender","tag-veteran-of-change"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17287"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17290,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17287\/revisions\/17290"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}