Sometimes things don’t turn out the way we anticipate they should.

In fact, I think most of the time things don’t turn out the way we think they will.  Therein lies the reason for this writing today: unfulfilled expectations.

I have seen a lot of things happen in this vein over the past few years of my Christian walk.  We form and anticipate the occurrence of certain circumstances, and when they do not happen according to our plan, the opportunity for offense and bitterness to form arises.

The danger of this is evident in Hebrews 12:15: “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”

Bitterness is not a symptom of a larger problem.  It is a root issue that causes a lot of opportunities for the devil to wreak havoc in our own lives as well as the lives of those around us…if we entertain it and allow it to remain there.

So what do we do when we don’t know what to do?  What do we do when things don’t turn out the way we had anticipated they would and it seems that God is decidedly silent on the subject that we feel is so important?  How do we process these unfulfilled expectations?

Could it possibly be that most of these kinds of conflict come from an incorrect perception of God’s reality in the first place?

I think so.  Take a look at nature, for example:

Here we see a perfect example of God’s definition of “order”.  Trees all growing and pointed in the same direction, but all different types, all different sizes, all different fruits, all different methods of reproduction.  Some plants overshadow other plants, but that does not make the other plants any less important.  It just makes them different.

God is a God of variety.  Nothing He does is the same.  There might be similar types and species that look relatively the same, but they are individual.  Even no two snowflakes are exactly alike.  Obviously the same goes for people as well as situations.

An evergreen tree does not need to be told how to grow.  It simply does what it is created to do.  There are not other trees or plants telling it that it needs to grow like them.  The forest would certainly be a loud place if all of the plants were telling each other that they need to be just like them!  And it certainly would be boring to look at if everything was exactly the same.

Even in the midst of the seeming chaos that is in the forest’s layout, there is a kind of peaceful serenity…although it does not have the kind of man-made order that gardens do (everything in neat, perfect rows…where man can control the amount of fruit that is grown, when the fruit is grown, the size of the plants, where they grow, etc.), there is a powerful sense of the order and nature of God on public display.  He is not boring.  He is very creative.  He is peaceful, and delights in making what some might see as chaotic into a beautiful portrait of His majesty.

Gardens, although they serve their purpose, are the total antithesis of the nature and character of God.  They are controlled by the farmer…their output, the kind of plants that are grown, their very design and appearance.

Too often, we as believers fall into the trap of trying to make our Christian walk like a garden instead of understanding that in many ways, it is a lot more like a forest.  Some things cannot be seen because they are being overshadowed by other things that are currently more visible–and instead of recognizing that God has a hand in all of what is going on in our lives (not saying that God causes all things to happen, mind you), sometimes people want to just pull out the machete of control and hack away at the plans God has for us.  I know I have done this.  It is my prayer that I do it no longer.

The need to be in control is as destructive as a machete slicing through a forest.  It cuts life out of the equation as if it is meaningless.  It inhibits growth.  We cannot acquire “the peace that passes all understanding” until we have surrendered the need to understand.

Pastor Bill Johnson says that when we don’t know what God is doing that we should look to what He has done in the past.  Our history with God should be the lens through which we look into our future…not the lenses that the enemy or other people so want us to wear.  David ‘strengthened Himself in the Lord’ when all of his friends had abandoned him and wanted to kill him for their perceived loss at Ziklag (1st Samuel 30).

Your perception of reality will define your response to your circumstances.  That doesn’t mean that our perception is always in line with reality.

We need to take our focus off of ourselves, our circumstances, and even sometimes the opinions of those around us and find our strength in the character, certainty, and person of Christ.  Nobody can do that part for us.

For example, if you have seen someone healed of an incurable disease, then the next time you encounter what doctors say is incurable, it should not be cause for alarm or anxiety because of the testimony that you carry.  The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10) and the word ‘testimony’ can be translated “to do again”.

The problem arises when we take our focus off of our history with God and try and look into what the devil tries to tell us is an uncertain future.  At the root of everything the enemy tries to speak to us is one phrase: “Has God really said…“ (Gen.3:1).  People get into fear and trouble when they believe those lies.  Again, as Bill Johnson says, “When we believe a lie, we empower the liar.”

Has God provided you with incredible provision?  Has He ever failed to provide you with everything you need?  I know for us, the answer is that He has always been faithful.  His name is Jehovah-Jireh, God our Provider.  This is the lens through which we must envision our future.  Fear has no place when we do this.

If we surrender to the reality that God’s ways look a lot different than ours, then will come the peace that calms our internal storms.  But not before.  Looking to what God has done previously will give us the grid and the map we need to advance to where we are goingl.  This is where many do not see breakthrough…this is the trap so many fall into as the Israelites did when they had come out of Egypt.

To get to the promised land, we must focus on what God is doing and be thankful for it.  This is the key to unlocking the breakthrough you are crying out for.  This is what we must do when we do not know what else to do.

When the Israelites had escaped the bondage of Egypt and then were stuck between the Red Sea and Pharoah’s advancing armies, they began to grow fearful.  Moses’ response to them reveals what we must do when we feel like we are between a rock and a hard place…when we have no place to go, when we have no Plan B but God.

‘Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.” ‘
- Exodus 14:13-15

We must not fear.  We must stand firm and watch to see what God will do as we do as God had told Moses to do — to step out in the authority He has given us and speak to the obstacles in front of us to bow to the name of Jesus.  Striving will get us nowhere in the Kingdom.  We need to move on when the way is made for us.  It is in the act of stepping forward when it doesn’t look like there is anywhere to step that God will provide the dry ground for you to walk on.

So fear not.  Rest.  Trust.  Be thankful.  Move on.  And don’t try to make something happen in your own strength–you’ll only end up with an Ishmael!

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