Friday Fight 76 - Exceeding our Expectations

Every Friday, when I wake and pray, God places something on my heart to help me fight darkness beginning in our minds. Today is FF76.

How do we position ourselves when approaching a situation or planned adventure with a list of our expectations? It depends, right? We rightfully expect certain things to occur since we planned accordingly. However, we arrive at this planned adventure to find our desired plan unfolded quite differently. So, now what?

Exceeding our Expectations:

How do we react if a planned trip or event unfolds drastically different than we expected? Are we disappointed and let that set the tone for the rest of our time or do we let it roll off our shoulders and move on with our day?

Perhaps the list of expectations we create, garnished with added expenses, is just that, our expectations, perhaps only being part of God's plan. But, on the other hand, maybe God is trying to expand our surrender by changing our mindset from what we thought should happen to what is only possible when we let go and surrender to God what is now in front of us. Maybe we return home with a fresh, new perspective.

This happened to me during a prayer trip to San Clemente last month. Many things unfolded differently than I expected, even those I assumed I would be spending time with. But I learned in letting go of those expectations, God did exceedingly more. I returned so excited about what I experienced. This lesson was confirmed through a family friend, but with a different perspective. Suppose we have been training for something for months, but an injury now prevents our participation. Are we willing to stand aside and see what God has planned despite this, or do we not believe God can exceed our expectations even in this situation? A young lady I adore is living this and teaching this very lesson to those around her. She walks with the character of Christ. Even though her mindset could be disappointment or anger, she chose to trust God and surrender, shaping her mind and heart accordingly. As a result, she now walks in God's healing, peace, and blessings, knowing God will bring something entirely new!

The Father of Lies thrives in disappointment. Lying is his first language and the painful skeleton for multiple dialects. Working in these unexpected situations enables darkness to spew lies of continuous disappointment and regret so we never see beyond our unmet expectations.

God works in and through us when we remain surrendered to Him. This surrender includes not formulating an opinion about situation outcomes before they happen. If we only seek to fulfill our preconceived expectations, good or bad, we never have the opportunity to relinquish any part of our time to experience new things God has planned for us. Remember that God will use areas of disappointment to gain our attention regarding the mindset and application of expectations. When we let that go, God will move, and we have an opportunity to experience Him exceedingly more than we could imagine.

1 Peter 5:8

Pastor Shannon