What do you expect?

As seen in the HEARTbeat and the Village Voice

“What Do You Expect?”

            We go about our lives planning, executing those plans, and expecting a specific outcome.  We do it every single day.  But what happens when an outcome occurs that was unexpected.  We are mystified.  We ask ourselves, “What caused that to happen in that way?  What did I do wrong?”  Face it, we are an expectant society that desires outcomes exactly the way we want them.

            In hypothesis testing, a research project is designed, hypotheses are stated, and data is gathered.  Even though we think we know what the outcome will be, we are unsure until all the data is properly analyzed.  Only then can it be determined if our hypothesis is correct or not.

            The next question in your mind should be, “What if a research project is skewed to give the desired outcome of the researcher?”  Well, in the research world, this is highly frowned upon and the person doing such may be ostracized from academia altogether.  This “barring” begs the question, “What did you expect?”

            When you wake up every morning, what do you expect?  Do you expect the alarm clock to sound at the time it was set?  Why?  You might respond, “Well, it has worked well for me every day.”  So, you therefore have an expectation of an event!  What about the rest of your day?  Do you expect to drive on the roads and highways without an accident?  I would certainly hope so, but what if???  What would your expectations then be, knowing an accident quite possibly can occur on any given day.  (And you wonder where I’m going with this.)

            Animals have expectations as well.  They expect food in their dishes.  They expect to be taken outside.  Their days are filled with habitual events which causes them to have expectations.  What about the animals who were surrounding Mary and Joseph in the stalls?  Sure, they had seen people before, and maybe even people sleeping in the stalls next to them.  Did they expect to see angels on the night Jesus was born?  Did they expect to see a bright light shining on them in the darkness of the stable.  Did they expect all the visitors during the night in the person of shepherds?  I venture to guess they didn’t.  But they were witnesses to the greatest birth ever recorded.  Maybe they were the first to hear the Savior cry.  Were they filled with the warmth, love, and worship so apparent in the air that evening?  I’d like to think so.

            My question remains – what do you expect?  Do you rise every morning expecting to see a miracle during the day?  Do you expect to be a blessing to someone during the day?  Do you expect to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit around you as you go about your day?  I tell you this, if you don’t expect something to happen, it won’t.  If you don’t expect to see the wonder of God’s creation, you won’t.  But what if you do expect all these things and more as you begin your day?  Surely, if you expect to encounter God today, you most certainly will.  Go into this day with an expectant attitude and experience the wonders of God’s glory.