Unrealistic Expectations

Unrealistic Expectations


1 Kings 19
Elijah Escapes from Jezebel
1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time." 3 And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 9
9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

In the book of First Kings, chapter Nineteen, we find the mighty prophet Elijah, hiding in a cave from an evil woman named Jezebel. Elijah has just come off an intensely high spiritual experience and found circumstances in his life to be different than what he had hoped for.

Elijah is not that different from you and I, according to James 5;17, he's a guy that we can relate to, he reacted emotionally and not always in a rational manner. I think that inside each & everyone of us, is a picture of somebody that doesn't do such things. And it seems like in ways that are subtle, usually; we strive to be like whoever or whatever that pic is in our minds.

Elijah was upset because his actions didn't bring about change, not to the extent he would have liked. Even though he did what God pretty much wanted him to do, he was disappointed, discouraged, and disillusioned.

Sometimes friends of ours will say something coy like," well, what did you expect?" That's got me thinking, because we're seldom disappointed if we didn't expect much to begin w/. Think about it. When you get a surprise amount of money in the mail that you didn't expect, are you ever disappointed? How about when unexpected circumstances cause you to, miracle of miracles, lose weight without your realization, are you disappointed? Never, unless you're bulimic and if you are, that's a little disappointing.

Doesn't it make you wonder if maybe our perspectives are a bit skewed? Why not expect your car to break down, your kids to lose their minds in front of your boss, and your favorite shirt to excrete extract of cherry tomato?

Where should our hope lie? In whom should we place it? And if we do that, and I mean trusting it into Jesus' hands, what does that look like? Should we expect pain free living? No, that's unrealistic but, what changes us? What causes you and I to seek God like sweet potatoes on a Kansas hitchhiker?


I want to suggest to you that it's what He gives us. What does Christ give us? Sometimes for me, it's perspective. A glimpse that my worries are often out of proportion. Other times, it's the realization that we can make it; we can get through this drudgery, and maybe even get some joy along the way. One of the ways I know this is that I almost always find some poor schmuck along the way, who's encountering what I've encountered. And my attitude tends to be very gracious when I realize I'm not there today, where I used to be yesterday. Expect it.