There are many things I hope to do in life. I recently wrote a list of 100 of them.

Lately I’ve been thinking about how hope can turn into expectations, how those expectations can turn into assumptions, and why this isn’t always a good thing.

There have been many times where I’ve heard people say that we should “expect big things from God.” The reason people say this would seem to be based on the view that we shouldn’t limit our ideas about what God can do to our own human understanding: an idea which sounds good to me.

But when we hope (and pray) for something, can we rely too much on this idea of expectation in God? Do we see expectation change from one form (expectation for the sake of not limiting God to an easily definable box), turn in to expectation of another form (assumption that something will actually happen)? How does this change sneak up on us?

In hindsight, there have been times in my life where I’ve asked for something from God, really have hoped that said thing will happen, and it has. An example would be when I needed a car, prayed for one, and literally got given a car within a month.

There are also plenty of times where I’ve asked God for something, hoped just as much (or more) for it to happen, and it hasn’t. Looking back at some of those situations, it would seem that hope turned into assumption, that after some length of time I was no longer trusting in God as much as I originally had. I think this happens because when we expect something to happen, we no longer have a felt need for hope in that situation; we eliminate the need to trust God as much as we do when we’re praying for something that we wouldn’t normally expect to happen.

When we assume something will happen, I think what we’re really saying is that we understand in our minds what the outcome of that situation will be. That’s presumptuous, because even if we don’t explicitly think it, we’re saying we know as much as God does in that situation! That seems like idolatry at the highest level.

Psalm 71:19 (ESV):

Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

I’m a doubter. I doubt a lot of things. I’ve been thinking recently (read: over the past 5 minutes plus the time it took to write this post) about the psychology of doubting, and how that relates to our trust in God.

I’d like to say that when things that I think are in God’s plans don’t go the way I had hoped, that my doubt about whether they were really God’s plans in the first place is doubt in myself. Whoa, what a mouthful; let me break it down in an example:

I have an idea about how something (be it a short event or a longer term plan) should go, and what I think God’s plan is in regards to how that thing should go. Then that thing doesn’t go the way I had hoped (planned), and as a result, I doubt that God’s plan was what I originally thought it was.

Simple, right? I can look at myself in any given situation that doesn’t go the way I want it to, and say “Any doubt in this situation is with regards to my own ability to do/plan/see things according to how God sees them.” In (attempting) to say “I doubt myself”, I’m theoretically putting God first, and saying “God, you know better.” But there’s a problem! Am I really trusting in God, or am I still trusting in myself?

Other than the fact that things didn’t go the way I planned, did I learn anything from the situation? Did I learn to trust in God more than I already knew how? Or did I just say “my fault” and ‘move on’? How can I ensure that I’m really going to trust God in the future? These types of situations can lead into the trap of thinking (probably subconsciously, as if that’s an excuse!) “Well, I’m going to plan X, Y and Z, and if things don’t happen that way, I’ll deal with it because it wasn’t God’s plan anyway.” Some trust in God that is, huh?

I’m sure there are many things which lead to one finding themselves in this sort of situation: perhaps the choleric need for achievement, and the sense that a goal should be achieved because of one’s own hard work (in essence the need to be in control of things). Or perhaps the sanguine need to please people by being quick to offer an explanation/apology when something doesn’t go as expected. (There may be some influence for those of the melancholy/phlegmatic nature too, but I don’t readily identify with those, and I wasn’t intending for this post to turn into a commentary on personalities).

Isaiah 55:6-9 (ESV):

Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Psalm 143:10 (ESV):

Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.