Have you ever been told that you shouldn’t have expectations? I have. The time that comes to my mind instantly is when I was first getting to know my husband Dan. I had only known the Lord for 5 years. After making a commitment to not date anyone who wasn’t a Christian, I hadn’t had a date for almost 5 years. If I had known how few Godly men there were around I might not have made that commitment, but since I did I stuck to it.

Then along came Dan. I was interested, but afraid. I thought I had dealt with the hurt from my past, but now, faced with the possibility of risking more hurt, I wanted to run – fast, in the opposite direction. My new found faith led me to seek the Lord’s advice. I felt like He said to me, “I want you to love Him without any expectations, and I will be your shield.”

God is my shield

In all honesty, there were a lot of opportunities for me to be hurt during the next three years before we got married – seriously hurt. Circumstances were not easy for either of us. But I tried to be as faithful as I could to my commitment of loving without expectations and the Lord was more than faithful to be my shield.

Loving without expectations didn’t end when we got married. I soon found out that the Lord expected me to continue loving Dan – not expecting anything in return. To lay down my desires for his desires my hopes for his hopes. In fact, [Tweet “I began to see that only as Dan became all that the Lord wanted him to be, would I become all that He wanted me to be.”]

In God’s economy things always seem backwards. Lose your life to find it, humble yourself to be lifted up, and don’t forget – not being able to out give God.

There is one area that I find myself not expecting enough. That is in what I can expect from the Lord. His promises are far and beyond what I even begin to expect.

One of my favorite verses is Ephesians 3:20-21: “Now to Him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, to Him be glory in the church and in Jesus Christ to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.”

Wow! I don’t know about you but I can think some pretty big thoughts – and yet this verse says I would not even come close to imagining all that the Lord is able to do.

Are you expecting enough from the Lord? Are you imagining all that He has for you?

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