Expectations wrongly placed can lead to real disappointment. In the vineyard parable, some of the workers left content with their pay while others grumbled about it. It came down to what they had expected to take home in their pockets.
I’ve known about great expectations. By homeschooling our sons, I figured they would become spiritual giants. But by the time our oldest was 12, I was facing real discouragement. Our family was not what I had expected it would be. Thankfully, God never gives up and did what I could never do—He transformed each of our hearts in wondrous ways. Placing my expectations on our family and myself ended in discouragement. But putting my hope in the Lord showed me that He does more than I could ever ask.
In 1948 A.W. Tozer said, “True faith is never found alone; it is always accompanied by expectation. The man who believes the promises of God expects to see them fulfilled. Where there is no expectation, there is no faith.” Lay your requests before God each new morning and wait expectantly for Him.