God Exceeds Our Expectations

We live by the law of expectation. What is the law of expectation? It is getting out of life what we expect. We see what we expect to see. We feel what we expect to feel. We act the way we are expected to act. We achieve what we are expected to achieve. We set our own expectations. We never aim high because we never see ourselves having the ability to achieve. We refuse to set goals because we don’t expect to have enough focus to accomplish the goals. We remain isolated because we don’t expect relationships.

We live by the expectations of others. Maybe you had a parent who told you that you were worthless. Maybe your spouse threw stones of negativity constantly. Maybe you work for a boss whose expectations are low.

In the church we set expectations. We give people away out when they sin by saying things like, “No one is perfect.” Or my favorite, “We are all just sinners saved by grace.” We put the emphasis on sinner instead of grace. It’s like our sinning is stronger than the grace made available through the death of Jesus. We are more than “sinners saved by grace.” We are saints. We are redeemed children. We are brothers and sisters of King Jesus. We are prince and princesses in God’s kingdom. “Sinner saved by grace” is another way of saying I am a lazy, sloppy, careless Christian who doesn’t believe that Jesus has the power to save.

If God lives in us and God exceeds our expectations then we need to rise above expectations. A little girl turned to her mother after church and said, “Mommy, the preacher confuses me.” The mother asked, “Why?” The little girl said, “Well, he said that God is bigger than we are.” “Yes,” the mother replied. “He also said that God lives in us.” Again the mother replied, “Yes.” “Well,” said the little girl, “If God is bigger than us and He lives in us, wouldn’t we explode?” Good question. More Christians are exploding because they ate refried beans last night more than because the Spirit of the Living God lives in them.