Letting God Redirect our Expectations

Scripture: As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ. Luke 3:15

Observation: The people were waiting for the Messiah. The way John talked, with such authority and certainty, maybe he was the messiah they were expecting. But John redirected their expectations away from him. Their core expectation was correct—waiting for a messiah. But they were off a bit in their expression of that expectation.
Sometimes our expectations are right, but we have the details wrong. This can be key for us as we are learning to be people of expectation.

Application: This hit home for me yesterday. I spoke with a friend who was struggling with expecting God. This person found it easy to expect God in things that were clear, like the salvation of a friend, but difficult to expect God in things that were not clear, like personal hopes and dreams. The question they asked was, “How do we know if our expectations are on track?” That is a tough one.
I think John helps us here. Maybe our desires give us guidance, but we need direction from God as to specifically how he will meet those expectations. The people desired a messiah; John redirected them away from him. Maybe some of the expectations we have are desires put there by God. We should still expect. But maybe the specific expression we are waiting for might be need further direction from God to the incredible way He will meet them.
We are people of expectation. We need to continue to listen to God to allow him to specifically direct or redirect our desires to the right expressions of those expressions. Sometimes this may take a few moments, like Luke 3. Sometimes it might take years. But we know that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our hearts—the truest, deepest, God honoring expression of our desires.

Prayer: God, let me get to the heart of the expectations I desire. Let me keep in constant contact with you, that you can redirect my desires towards your best plan for me. Help me keep from putting too many details to the expectations I have of you.