Just Ran into a Door...

I’m sure we have all had those times in our lives, when we think we have it all figured out. When you’re 2, 13, 18, 21, 25, 40, 45, etc., we all go through stages where we think we have it all together. I will be the first to admit I just had one of those moments in my life, where yet again I thought I had everything under control and then my expectations were unmet. I thought God was telling me to go through a certain door, and felt like the door wasn’t even open in the first place and ran right into it! (Yes, I have ran right into a door before LOL...see pic below. ) Maybe my ears were plugged and I just didn’t hear God calling me to stop my pursuit, or maybe I was getting the directions confused…okay who am I kidding…I was opening a door that I wanted open and clearly I wanted through it. Although I do think that God is calling me in that direction, I think I took matters in my own hands and fought all the way through it until I came running full impact into the door.

If I wouldn’t have pursued it, would I have prevented myself from being hurt in the end? Maybe, but at the same time I learned some valuable lessons that I may not have learned or experienced if I hadn’t pursued it. I will be honest, I truly felt in my heart that this door was open, but I also felt the door close a lot sooner before I stopped pursuing it. Does this mean we should go after what “we want” in life? No, absolutely not! I do believe that God gives us the desires of our hearts, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

There is a part of that verse that I miss sometimes. The beginning, where it says to “delight yourself in the Lord”. Sometimes I don’t do a very good job of delighting in the Lord. What areas do you need to delight in the Lord more? Is it your daily walk? Is it a struggling relationship? A bad habit? Busyness? What do you need to do to change how you delight in the Lord? There are several things in my own life I know need changed and as I read God’s word I try to implement what it says into my daily life.

The truth of the matter is, God’s timing is perfect! Whether we soar graciously through the open door, or break our noses trying to plow it open, God knows what He is doing. He sees the bigger picture. When we embrace expectations that are faith based, we no longer allow the chances for them to become unmet expectations. When we have unmet expectations that when we allow hurt to affect us emotionally, spiritually, and physically. But what are faith based expectations and how do we get them? – Go to the WORD!!!

"We ask less of this life because we know full well that more is coming in the next. The art of living with suffering is just the art of readjusting our expectations in the here and the now." -- Joni Eareckson

Isaiah 26:3- At that time, this song will be sung in the country of Judah:

We have a strong city, Salvation City, 
   built and fortified with salvation.
Throw wide the gates 
   so good and true people can enter.
People with their minds set on you, 
   you keep completely whole,
Steady on their feet, 
   because they keep at it and don't quit.
Depend on God and keep at it 
   because in the Lord God you have a sure thing.
Those who lived high and mighty 
   he knocked off their high horse.
He used the city built on the hill 
   as fill for the marshes.
All the exploited and outcast peoples 

   build their lives on the reclaimed land.

Philippians 1:19 - So how am I to respond? I've decided that I really don't care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on!

   And I'm going to keep that celebration going because I know how it's going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything he wants to do in and through me will be done. I can hardly wait to continue on my course. I don't expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn't shut me up; they gave me a pulpit! Alive, I'm Christ's messenger; dead, I'm his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can't lose.

Psalm 62:11 – od said this once and for all; 

      how many times 
   Have I heard it repeated? 
      "Strength comes 

   Straight from God."

Hebrews 13:5 – Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you," we can boldly quote, 

   God is there, ready to help; 
   I'm fearless no matter what. 

   Who or what can get to me?

These are some great passages to read about expectations and how to develop our own faith based expectations. This week evaluate what your expectations are, and how you can revise them to be faith-based! I have a lot of evaluating to do this week, what about you? Here is a good place to start...

Philippians 4:6-7- Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Have faith based expectations and stop running into doors!!!! 

(Yes, that would be me in the red shirt, holding my face...and that would be my friend Tyler as she rolled on the floor laughing. And my friend Tammie who took the pic, probably had a hard time taking the picture because she was laughing hysterically too!