W8D3: Unmet Expectations

"Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair." Proverbs 1:3 NLT

Proverbs was written to teach us to live successful lives. But life is an enigma and there are glitches in the system we just can’t figure out. We don’t know why tragic things happen to good people and we are not going to be able to figure it out because of our human limitations. This is why we have to learn to trust God and lean on Him because He is the only one who truly knows, and He is in complete control. 

When we don’t trust someone's motivations, we are skeptical of what they say or do. We automatically think and expect the worst from them. We keep them at arm’s length and reject any advice they may try to give us. We do the same with God, often without realizing it, because we try to "do good" and yet disappointments and disasters still hit us. We question His goodness. That is why it is vital for us to be in the Word and stay close to Him. The wildness of the world can easily and quickly jade us toward God.

Ecclesiastes was written to help us understand that Proverbs speaks of principles we should live by to give us the best opportunity to live an abundant, joy filled life on earth. Ecclesiastes helps to keep our expectations realistic in relation with our situation. What is our situation? We are no longer in the Garden of Eden; we are not living in paradise. Everything is not perfect, and it can’t be perfect. Unmet expectations are the starting point for all of our hurt, pain and conflict. We do children a disservice when we tell them that God loves them, takes care of them and gives them good gifts when they behave and are “good.” That is part of it, but when we fail to explain the Ecclesiastes portion, we set our children up for devastation. 

Ecclesiastes tells us that no matter how good we are, bad things will happen. It gives the perception that some people have wealth, possessions and honor, and that they get everything they want, yet they are miserable. These people who seemingly get all the things we desire, hate their lives. Why? Because of all the things they had to go through to acquire all that stuff. By the time they get it they are stressed out and can’t sleep at night. They’re old and exhausted.

They may not lack anything their hearts desired but they usually don’t have the ability to enjoy it because they have killed themselves to get it. When they die, someone else gets it all. They leave their wealth to irresponsible heirs, maybe even a stranger. Others benefit from someone else who literally worked themselves to death. Ecclesiastes shows that the person who acquires the wealth doesn’t truly enjoy it. Why is this so often true? Because the mindset that comes with accomplishment often makes those accomplishments more of a curse than a blessing.

When we don’t know God’s heart and we pick and choose parts of the Bible to base our wants and desires on, we set ourselves up for unmet expectations. The Bible may appear to have contradictions, but they are not contradictions, they are paradoxes. Life is complicated and just because we don’t have an eternal or all-knowing perception of circumstances, that doesn’t mean there is no meaning to it. When things don’t work out or tragedies occur it doesn’t mean God is not good. It just means that life is full of paradoxes that humble us and forces us to look at our motives for pursuing the good things in life that are “hevel”.

Have you ever found yourself angry with God because you “followed the rules” and things did not turn out as expected? Can you see how unmet expectations can drive a wedge between you and God?

Meditate on Proverbs 1:3