Expectations
Dec.26,2013
http://getmorestrength.org
"My earnest expectation and hope [is] that . . . Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death." Philippians 1:20
Expectations! We all have them. We expect that people will be nice to
us, that we’ll have good health, great marriages, faithful friends,
successful careers. But what do we do when life doesn’t live up to our
expectations? In Philippians 1, Paul shows us the way. He faced broken
expectations of place, people, and the future, yet he remained
surprisingly upbeat.
Paul was stuck in prison—not a great place to be! When we
get stuck in a tough marriage, an unrewarding job, or a challenging
neighborhood, it’s easy to get discouraged. But Paul was wonderfully
positive. He said that his suffering helped to advance the gospel (Phil. 1:12).
Maybe people haven’t lived up to our expectations. Paul
likely expected other believers to encourage him. Instead, some were
actually glad he was in jail and were preaching out of “envy and strife”
(Phil. 1:15). Paul’s response? “Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice” (Phil. 1:18).
Maybe it’s an uncertain future—the loss of a spouse, a job
transfer, or a health crisis. Paul knew that at any moment Nero might
give the order for his execution, yet he declared, “For to me, to live
is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).
Adopt Paul’s only expectation—for Christ to be honored no matter what!
In all I think and say and do,
I long, O God, to honor You;
But may my highest motive be
To love the Christ who died for me. —D. De Haan
I long, O God, to honor You;
But may my highest motive be
To love the Christ who died for me. —D. De Haan
You can expect to enjoy God’s presence when you honor Him with your life.
No comments:
Post a Comment