When Expectations Don’t Meet Reality

Since March of 2020, we have been living with one deflated expectation after another. We’ve had to let go of our social life expectations, from altered travel plans to reunions canceled to delayed memorial services. Many have experienced financial hardship due to job loss. Many others have lost loved ones. And, right as we believed we would be engaging normalcy in our days, another spike has left us wondering if we will ever feel normal again. 

I have found comfort in reading through the stories of Esther, Nehemiah, and Daniel over the last couple of years. These were people living under secular rule, doing their best to stay under the radar so they could worship God in peace. Some couldn’t be ok with their quiet worship. I am reminded of Daniel’s expectations to worship freely and how abruptly they changed in today’s reading. 

For most of us, our expectations are crushed by circumstances beyond anyone’s control, but for Daniel, he was faced with a malicious attempt to entrap him. What did Daniel do? Perhaps a better question is: What do I do when my plans are disrupted? Like Daniel, do I go about my prayer life, as is the routine I have established and come to rely on? Or do I allow the difficult circumstances to put a wedge between my Father and me? Today I choose to rest in the routine of my quiet worship to Jesus so when the path leads to something other than my expectations, I can wholly lean on Jesus.

Prayer: Father God, When my expectations are thwarted, either by intentional or unintentional circumstances, may my footing be grounded in your Word and my relationship with you.