These aren’t my fries!!!

An Expectation is a mental belief of the future. We make decisions based on what we expect the outcome to be. My grandmother always said that she and my grandfather were married for so many years because her mantra was “You should always start out like you are going to finish.”She had a reasonable mental belief of what marriage should be and that is what she expected. She told my grandfather, that before she would marry him, he had to be able to provide for her, have a place for her to live and have groceries in the cupboard. She expected him to take care of her; to be her covering and that is exactly what he did. They were married for over 70 years and NEVER spent an anniversary apart.




Marriage isn’t the only relationship that expectations are important. It is my opinion that this same outlook is applied in most situations. When we accept a position, we have expectations of what the job will entail as the employer has expectations of our performance. We even have expectations at certain restaurants. McDonald’s prides itself giving its customers the same quality of food in all of its restaurants. Think about it. No matter where you are, you expect the McDonald’s fries to taste the same. That is a preconceived notion or expectation.



So, what happens when the relationship changes? When what you started with turns out to be or turns into something dissimilar. What changed it? Is it you or the other factors involved in the relationship? No matter the cause, the effect is often the same. There is discontent. Think about it. You march yourself happily into McDonald’s to get your fries, reach your hand in the bag and they taste differently. No announcement was made that they were changing the seasoning and you are taken aback at the new garlic flavored fries!! Would you be happy about it? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that change isn’t good; in fact it is necessary in most instances. Some of you may even like the garlic fries. I am talking about expectations and how changing from what is expected to something totally different causes discord and can lead to the severing of the relationship.



There was the expectation that Adam and Eve would dwell in the presence of God forever. God also gave them freewill. They didn’t finish as they started and the dynamics of their relationship with God were changed immediately. He didn’t stop loving them, for they were still HIS, but their bond was no longer the same. The only way God could repair this connection was to send the Master POTTER!! HE who was and is and is to come; HE who cannot change; HE who is the same yesterday, today and will be forevermore; HE who cannot lie! HE sent His son Jesus to save us from ourselves. IF it is HIS WILL, and we are willing to accept HIS WILL, HE can mend those broken relationships, marriages, friendships and even change the seasoning on those fries. He can do all things. Some say, why aren’t all things mended then? It’s freewill that gets in the way or all parties involved are not amenable to HIS will. Some may not realize that there is anything to be repaired or the relationship may not be ordained or in HIS will.



NOW, if you THOUGHT you liked McDonald’s fries because of preconceived expectations and found out after eating them that you just don’t like them, that is a totally different scenario. It’s not that the expectations changed, it’s that what you THOUGHT you wanted turned out to be the complete OPPOSITE. That’s a different blog for a different day. That will be part TWO… called, “Getting what you wanted and finding out that it’s not!”



Until then, remember these things:



1. Most people don’t look for something different if they are satisfied with what they have.



2. Know what YOU really want and expect ….and by all means,



3. Start out like you’re going to finish….. Don’t change horses in midstream. The outcome can be….well you know!



Ephesians 5:17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.



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