Know the expectations
When I first began teaching, I had a wonderful mentor in the fifth grade teacher at my school. Along with many of the lessons she taught me, she also shared an amazing story of her first experience of having a garden. As a young bride, her husband invited her to weed their garden. But she was a city girl–she couldn’t distinguish between a garden plant and a weed. She didn’t know the expectations set forth for her.
After completing the task successfully, she thought, my friend returned to the house. A short time later, her husband entered their home, shouting her name in an angry voice. “What do you think you were doing?”
“I weeded the garden just as you asked me to do.”
“But you pulled up all the vegetables plants, too!” he roared. “There’s not a single green plant left in the garden!”
Humans don’t always make their expectations clear
Her husband had given her a task to do without providing her with the knowledge needed to accomplish the task correctly. Since she didn’t know the expectations, she failed to successfully complete the task.
But our God…
We can know God’s expectations for us.
Four ways God shows us His expectations as He provides:
Knowledge
We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true–even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. (1 John 5:20)
Through Scripture, we are given the knowledge we need to follow the teachings of Jesus. He is our Savior and teacher, leading us by example, showing us the pathway to love, salvation, and service.
Guidance
The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. (Isaiah 58:11)
Sometimes it is hard to determine the right decision to make or how to discern the pathway our Father has planned for us. But we have the assurance that our God is ALWAYS with us. He is there–waiting for us to call on Him in our time of need as we seek direction. He will guide us when we seek Him.
Discernment
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)
The beliefs and actions of others will attempt to pull us away from our God. Testing those ways of the world–those temptations, thoughts, and actions–before we complete them–allows us to determine if they’re God’s will.
Truth
Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)
The scriptures, particularly the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, share the teachings of Jesus. His words of truth will guide our steps and keep us on His pathway as we walk with Him.
The Apostle Peter reminds us how to confirm our calling in service to our Lord.
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:3-8)
Wishing you much joy this week as we celebrate the birth of our nation, the blessings of freedom, and the gift of love received from our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay, by Jill Wellington
Katherine, I failed to discern God’s path last week. I’m thankful He is there-waiting for us to call on Him in our time of need as we seek direction. I’m calling on Him in repentance and seeking direction. Thanks for your encouraging words.
Thank you, Lisa. In those times when we fail to seek our Father’s wisdom, I’m so thankful he’s patient and faithful–always there when we seek Him. Wishing you peace and blessings. Praying for you.
Oh, such wisdom here my friend. Thank you for blessing us with yours. We can’t expect or assume that others know what we know, or what our expectations for them are. Not only in our families, but also in our church family. Too often, I’ve seen folks come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, they’re baptized, and handed a baptism certificate and a Bible. Then, it seems, they are released back into the world with the expectation that they will become growing, productive, producing Christian evangelists, but we never make any investments in them (aka discipleship and mentorship) to teach them how to live as a Christian or present their testimony and the gospel of Christ. Then we wonder why so many sit in their pew each week and remain disengaged from the church. The answer is, the church was first disengaged from them. Great post my friend.
You’ve shared much needed insight and wisdom, kind sir, by pointing out one of our great weaknesses in the church. We fail to nurture our young Christians and without mentoring, so many of them lose their pathway. Thank you for gifting us with your wisdom today. I pray we can all seek our Father’s guidance in this area and serve as loving mentors. Thank you for your encouragement and wishing you and the Cross-Dubya family good health, happiness, and rain as needed.
Wonderful message my friend!!!! This would be a great Sunday School lesson! Do I have your permission to use sometime???? Thanks again for your messages each week. They are very uplifting and makes me stop and take inventory of my Christian life!!!! Blessings today and Happy 4th of July to you and your family!!!!!
Thank you for your encouragement, Martha. Of course you may use whatever you wish from the message. I’m honored and thankful that my words may be of help. Wishing you a blessed week.
Thank you for an enlightening post, Katherine. Many can probably identify with your introduction.
As a farm girl, that story always brings me a smile. Thank you, Diana.
Katherine, you brought back memories with one of your verses. In 1998 I claimed Isaiah 58:11 as my verse. I still use it today as one of my email addresses. I needed the Lord’s guidance and strength for my bones when we adopted a nine-month-old baby. Our youngest child was seventeen at the time. I thank God for His faithfulness, guidance, and strength.
Aligning our expectations to God’s will gives us peace. When we try to go our own way we step into stress. Thanks, Katherine, for reminding us to keep our goals in the right place. Happy 4th!🇺🇸
You are right Barbara, I think our only way to peace is to walk on our Lord’s pathway, not ours. We get lost without Him! Hope your summer is healthy, happy, and blessed.
Oh, my, what a wonderful and courageous action, LuAnn–to adopt a baby when your other children were grown. If you haven’t already written a book about that, you should. May God continue to bless your service to Him.
Missed expectations–how many of life’s pitfalls might we avoid if we worked to understand each other’s expectations–if we even worked sometimes to understand our own expectations before the fact.
Thank you for this wisdom, Katherine. God bless!
Improving communication within our relationships can make such a positive difference in our lives. Making our expectations clear (in a loving way) helps our relationships to be more kind, loving, and peaceful. Thank you for your kind encouragement, Nancy. May God bless you!
Much in life hinges on clear communication between us mortals, and we often fail at the task. Thankfully, God’s expectations are easy to access and easy to understand. Thanks for this!
We are so blessed to have God’s Word to guide us on our journey and I’m praying we humans can learn to communicate with love, as our Lord intends. Thank you for being a wonderful role model, Candyce. Wishing you joy and blessings.
Thank goodness God has given us a book of instructions on how to live for him. And he also gave us the Holy Spirit to interpret it. Good word Katherine.
I agree, Terri. Thanks so much for sharing your wisdom and for your encouragement. Wishing you blessings on the journey.
It’s so wonderful that God knows just how to instruct us in the way we should go. What an amazing Teacher He is! thanks for these good lessons, Katherine! I hope your garden is growing well.
As you point out, Kathy, God knows exactly what we need and is willing to guide us whenever we seek His help. I’ve discovered it’s my fault when I stumble on the pathway because I haven’t reached out for His guidance. We are blessed by His patience and the gift of second (and more) chances. Hope you’re having a great week.