John 1:10 “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.”
Has God ever intervened in your life in a way that caught you off guard? You might have even thought that God had abandoned you when He was there, right in the middle, hidden behind disappointment and suffering.
Giving God our expectations is one of the hardest things we will ever have to do. We risk missing what God intends to do when we focus our hopes and desires on what we think will happen. Even those whom Jesus invited to follow Him had troubled expectations of their own regarding a Messiah. They yearned for and searched for a Messiah who would free them from Rome’s oppression and restore Israel to its former glory, as it had been under King David.
They certainly sought a Saviour, but they did not anticipate a suffering Saviour. They didn’t notice that description in Isaiah’s prophecy until after the fact, for whatever reason. Predictions such as “the government will be upon His shoulders, and His government and its peace will never end” were what they were expecting. They cherished the promise that declared, “He will rule from the throne of His ancestor David for all eternity with fairness and justice.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)
James and John believed these things so much that they once asked Jesus if they may sit on His left and right hands when He established the Kingdom of God! But Jesus corrected them.
Mark 10:38–39 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with …”
When they gave their expectations to God, they would eventually realise what they were saying, even though they didn’t know it at the time.
Are your hopes and expectations placed in God? His ways are beyond our comprehension, and His intentions are far larger than anything we could ever imagine. When we just place our faith in Him to be God and give up our hopes, goals, and wants, it is incredibly liberating. When you do, you will see Him like you have never seen Him before.