Here's some DON'Ts with expectations to get you started on the right track:
- Don't put expectations on other people that they didn't agree to! This only leads to offense!
- Don't let your concept of God change due to expectations that YOU have for Him to do/come through on. This only makes us bitter toward a God who's timing is perfect and ways are higher.
- Don't expect God to bring you something that's not yours!
- Don't mistake God saying "wait" for God saying "no."
- Don't mistake taking expectations off of God for not trusting God. Fully trusting Him breaks down the chains of our own agenda we have in mind and how we think God should show up. Its all about HIS way and plan.
- Don't compare yourself with the world and it's expectations! Its time for the aimless striving to stop.
Expectations are the mind’s way of preparing us for what we cannot see. This can be beneficial or this can set us up for disappointment when we least expect it. This disappointment can manifest itself in our lives through a variety of emotions and can even impact our relationships with God and others. When you are feeling emotional hurt, do a heart scan to know if you are hurt by your own expectations.
How are you treating expectations? Do you put them on God? Others? Yourself?
Have you ever placed the blame from your own mislead expectations on someone else, when really those same expectations were a stumbling block?