Light Expectations

"my expectation is from Him"

Psalm 62:5

I'm going to a bridal shower this weekend.  Is there anyone more optimistic than a young bride-to-be?    She's in love, and the future looks nothing but rosy.   She's on the edge of beginning her "happily ever after".  Even in an economy like this one, she's probably realistic about gas prices and their ability to get a loan when the time comes to buy a house, but it's a very hopeful realism.  A very optimistic realism, if you will.

I think the longer we live, the more we are able to take difficulties in stride.  When you've seen very hard times, it makes the merely hard times seem less hard.   When we walk through a valley, we have more faith, when we've seen valleys deeper than this one!

But I also think that as our perspectives change, so do our expectations.   We can become more "realistic" and in so doing, lose our optimism.  Case in point:  this morning, out of the blue, my Amazing Boy said that every night, before he goes to sleep, he prays "that Daddy will get a million dollars".  I was wondering why he didn't just pray for a permanent job for Daddy, but I didn't say that.  I said, "Really?  Why do you pray that?"  And he said, "because if Daddy had a million dollars we wouldn't have to worry about money anymore."  It was so simple the way he said it.  His thought process was so... obvious.

Of course, I took the opportunity to remind him that rich people are not always happy, and that even without a million dollars, God is providing for us every day.  But I was getting a lesson, too.  My prayers are for the solutions that seem logical to me.  I don't know about you, but I sort of pray for just enough, you know?  I don't ask God for the moon ~ where would I put it?   And I don't want to be greedy.

But maybe I'm limiting God.  Ephesians 3:20 says He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.  Why would I want to bring down the level of my imagination?

The whole theme of this humble blog is about expecting.  Expecting love and laughter from life; expecting understanding and knowledge from His Word; expecting lessons from Him during ordinary events and conversations.  I expect light from Him every day.  I expect light from His Word and from my prayers.  But perhaps, the light He offers is even brighter than I've been expecting.  Maybe I should crawl in with my Amazing Boy when I'm tucking him in at night, and share in his prayers.   I have a feeling that, even lying there in the dark, I'll be blinded by the light.

~ "My soul, wait silently for God alone,

for my expectation is from Him." ~

Psalm 62:5