Great Expectations

Charles Dickens’ classic novel Great Expectations is on my Kindle. I must confess that I have read and stopped reading the story several times through the years. It is a strange book. Pip, the young orphan in the tale, provides insight into the ambition of the human heart.

We all have it. Great expectations.

Some would say it is the driving force behind advancement and progress. Others would admit that it is the root of so much disappointment. The problem is not great expectations. The problem is that so often our great expectations are just that—ours. They did not come from God, and if they are fulfilled, they will not bring Him glory. They are not great after all.

Greatness is always connected to God. He is great. We are not.

“And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not” (Jeremiah 45:5).

Yes, dream big dreams! Attempt something for the Lord! Live by faith! Pray for blessing! Claim Jeremiah 33:3: “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” But measure every goal by the will of God.

Three Guidelines for Great Expectations

1. Make God and God’s will the great expectation of your life.

Not money. Not position. Certainly not the praise of men or even personal fulfillment. Only God and obedience to His will bring real purpose and lasting joy. He never disappoints.

“My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be moved” (Psalm 62:5-6).

Stop trying to make it happen. Stop trusting in what men can do for you. Wait on God and work with your eyes on Him.

2. Put every great expectation through the test of wise counsel.

If it is great, it will stand the scrutiny.

“Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established” (Proverbs 15:22).

This world is full of disappointed people. Great expectations unfulfilled. Allow spiritual friends to help you refine your “purposes.” Listen to those who are willing to ask the hard questions and point you to the Lord.

3. Remember that often great expectations are being brought to pass in the middle of the most difficult circumstances.

The word expectation is full of hope. Full of excitement. Full of promise! But the process of expectations is sometimes painful. Recently a dear friend reminded me that it is not in the calm of life that the greatest work is being accomplished; it is in the struggle.

F.B. Meyer, in writing about Elijah, said, “The quiet life is no means the greatest life. Some characters can only reach the highest standard of spirituality by the disturbings or displacings in the order of God’s providence.”

This is how the aging Apostle Paul could sit in a Roman prison facing the possibility of execution and write: “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death” (Philippians 1:20).

Align Your Expectations with God’s Will

Great expectations does not mean everything works out the way you think it should. It means that everything works out the way God desires for it to. That is enough. He is enough.

God’s Word speaks frequently about the expectation of the wicked. It will be cut off and perish (Proverbs 10:28). Did you ever think that your expectation was wicked? When our expectations are rooted in the ideas of this world, the desire to please others, or our own pride — they are wicked. Anything that leaves God out of life is ungodly.

Judge your great expectations by your great God. Only then will it be more than selfish ambition. Only then can it bring Him glory.

The Danger of Low Expectations

Decay is a terrible thing, and it is all around us. We live in a world that is getting worse every day through the effects of sin. “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Romans 8:22). In a sin-deteriorating world, nothing gets better on its own!

If we are not careful, the decay around us can become an excuse for why we are not bearing fruit. Ours is a day of low expectations. Sad people have settled for less because something did not turn out the way they thought it should, and that is a very dangerous thing. The bar for Christians and churches keeps getting lower and lower. We seem to be believing God for less and less. Our culture has become too big, and our God has become too small.

Why should we expect so little from our great God? His expectation for us has not changed! Christ left His church here for a purpose and we should want nothing less than to fulfill His will…

• We are not here to exist — we are here to evangelize.
• We are not here to live in ease — we are here to edify.
• We are not here to endure life — we are here to enjoy His presence.

Away with low expectations! The church of Jesus Christ is not supposed to hold the fort — it is to charge the gates of hell (Matthew 16:18). Christians are not supposed to coast to Heaven — they are to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 3:18). Our expectations must be rooted in faith, not in how we feel, what we see, or what others say.

Raise Your Expectations

Do not die before you die. Refuse to quit before God is through! If you are breathing and Christ has not yet returned then there must be more that God has for you. The psalmist said, “my expectation is from him.” (Psalm 62:5). Our expectations should not be dictated by the climate of the day or determined by what we think can easily be accomplished. The believer’s expectation must be centered fully on the greatness of God: what He can do and what He deserves. As the famous missionary William Carey observed, “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God!”

My prayer for you today is the prayer of God’s servant for Christians facing their own culture war in the first century, “…that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Colossians 3:18). All the will of God. Dear Lord, raise our expectations!

LISTEN: Great Expectations (Psalm 62)

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About Scott Pauley