No, Great Expectations doesn’t refer to the Dickens novel, Great Expectations. Great Expectations is the stuff that you and I place on others around us, usually the people who are closest to us. We have so many high-level, sometimes even unrealistic, expectations that we place on our friends, our family, our co-workers, and our significant others.
They should do _____ for me. They should know _____ about me. They should be ______ to me. Don’t they know who I am?! They should, they should, they should….you begin to get the feeling that someone has pretty high expectations.
Hey, we’re all guilty of this at times. We have unrealistic expectations and compound that problem with the fact that largely we don’t voice our expectations to others. Those unsaid expectations are sometimes worse that the unrealistic ones: What you don’t know will hurt you in the long run.
The biggest problem is when we confuse what we expect of people with what we should expect from God. Why don’t I feel completely fulfilled with this person? Why aren’t they meeting all of my needs? Why do I feel like I’m on the outside looking in? These are all fleeting expectations that we have misdirected from God to people in our everyday lives.
The only place where Great Expectations are justified is in our relationship with God. Expect great things from the One who made you. Expect great movements and convictions from the One who seated your conscience and soul inside of you.
But we’re not the only ones with Great Expectations. God calls us to a much higher level of living than what our hearts want. God expects us to do great things for His kingdom but not on our own horsepower. He fills us with His Spirit because He knows that we can only do great things if He empowers us with great attributes.
And that’s when it’s okay to have Great Expectations.