Expectations and Shalom

Expectations can set us up for suffering

Expectations can set us up for fear and angst

Expectations can set us up for frustration and anguish

Expectations can set us up for resentment and hopelessness

Pain is inevitable but suffering is optional

Whether or not we suffer is up to us

It has to do with our expectations

If we expect that in life 

Good things happen to good people

God is loving and will protect us from all harm

God is loving and would only give us good things

God wants to bless us and give us the desires of our hearts

especially when we live according to His principles

and are obedient to His word

We reap what we sow

God will bless us with good when we act right

We will reap God’s blessings when we sow seeds of godliness

God will surely bless us with a godly mate 

when we have not compromised with worldly values

have steered mostly clear from our lustful desires

we have kept ourselves pure

waiting for God’s provision

God will surely bless us with a good marriage

when we have dedicated our marriage to Him

have been faithful to our spouse in body and soul

laid down our lives for our spouse in submission to God

interacted with our spouse according to godly principles

God will surely bless us with godly children

when we have taught and trained our children up in God’s word

prayed for and with our children regularly

conducted weekly family devotions

dedicated our children to God

God will surely bless us financially

when we have tithed diligently 

and gave generously to the needs of others

God will surely bless us with good health

when we have taken good care of our body

the Temple of the Holy Spirit

when we have eaten healthily

exercised consistently

Surely

Surely God

Surely God would 

Bless

We have done right

Surely God would hold up His end of the bargain

When bad things happen in the world

When bad things happen in our lives

Why would we not experience life’s realities

We live in a fallen world

Why not us

We are but dust

We are frail

We are weak

We are limited

We are all aging

From dust to dust we will be

Expectations are set by us

Consciously or unconsciously

We can choose to

Adjust them

Change them

Therefore

When we face struggles and face pain

We can plead for

God’s mercy

God’s grace

Without demanding that 

God would take away our pain

Or change our circumstance

For

Expectations can set us up for appreciation and contentment

Expectations can set us up for Shalom

Wellbeing

Peace with God

Peace with others

Peace with the world

Peace with ourselves

We can set our expectations according to

Who God is

Who He says He is

Not what or how we want Him to be

We see that God has promised to

Bless us in every circumstance

Work all things out for our good

To give us hope and a future amid tragedy and pain

By 

Being present with us

Immanuel – God with us

He holds us in the palms of His hands

He knows the number of our hair

He will not abandon us 

He will not forget us

He will not reject us

He bottles our tears

He weeps with us

He embraces us

He walks with us

He indwells us

He carries us

God allows struggles and pain

To teach us

To build us up

To strengthen us

To become more like Himself

God made us in His image

He allows difficulties to

Burn off the dross

To dust us off

So that He might

See 

His  own

Reflection 

In 

Us

"Flowers" - Song by Samantha Ebert

God’s Sovereignty in the Midst of Tragedy

2 “Jesus answered, ‘Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish’” (Luke 13:2-5).

How do we grapple with tragedy

Especially when multiple people died in it

How did God decide that all of them would die 

On the same fateful day

At the same time

In the same way

Did God plan it

Did He allow it

Did He know it

Questions and doubts boggle our minds

When tragedy strikes

Why

Why God

Why them

Why in such a way

Why then

Why

How

How are You in charge

How could You have allowed it

Innocent people died

Good people perished

Lives not fully lived cut short

All in an instant

Abraham bargained with God over Sodom

Would God destroy a city with righteous people in it

How many righteous people would it take to make God 

Relent from destroying completely

50?

45?

40?

30?

20?

10?

What is the magic number

How many righteous souls would it take

To avert disaster and judgment

Is every disaster a judgment from God

Do bad things not happen to good people

After all

It’s only fair that we get our just deserts

Isn’t that how life is supposed to work

We reap what we sow

The righteous reap righteousness

The wicked their doom

Every choice has its consequence we were told

God’s ways are higher than our ways

God’s ways can be very peculiar in our minds

Jesus refuted that when people died unjustly or in disasters

Is because of their sins

“But”

Jesus said

But unless we repent

We too will perish

God does not always answer our questions head on

We are not given a direct or concise answer

To our questions

Our quandaries

Our confusions

Our frustrations

Our grapplings

Our struggles

Our anger

But

 

But if we do not repent

But if we do not address our mea culpa

We too will perish

We too will die in our sins

Not necessarily in a disaster

We most likely will live to a ripe old age

But

But our souls will also perish

If we do not repent

If we do not take every opportunity to examine our own souls

Our 

Expectations

Perspectives 

Attitudes

Thoughts

Motives

Desires

Choices

Actions

Values

We have no control over the world

Over what happens to others

Over our life's circumstances

We are pitifully weak and frail

For we are but dust

From dust to dust we shall return

We exist but in a fleeting moment

In a flash

In our flesh

Weak and powerless

However

We have agency

We can choose

How we show up

The mindset we chose to adopt

The perspective we choose to take

The values we choose to embrace

The hope we choose to hold on to

All of these are opportunities for us

To know who we are

What we believe

What is dear to us

What stuff are we made of on the inside

Who do we believe in

In whom or what we place our trust and faith

In our weak and fleeting life

In systems that are fraught with problems and failures

In other weak and sinful people

Or in God

Knowing that He holds the future

Only God sees the end from the beginning

God knew every day before one day came into being

God promises to hold 

Our hands

Our hearts

Our futures

God promises to give us hope and a future 

God promises to

Be with us

Immanuel

God with us

In the midst of grief

In the midst of doubts

In the midst of tragedy

In the midst of our anger

In the midst of our loneliness

In the midst of our helplessness

In the midst of our powerlessness

God’s presence is what He promises

All the time

Every time

Turn 

Turn to Him

Turn toward Him when you shout at Him

God can take our anger

He can take our doubts

God loves us still

In the middle of our tantrums

Go

Run

Confidently

Into the Throne Room of Grace

To receive mercy and find grace 

In our times of need

In the midst of our

Confusion

Doubts

Anger

Rage

God says

Come

Come to me

Come all who are weary and heavy laden 

Come into My arms

Come into My embrace

Come and let me comfort you

Come and let me strengthen you

Come and let me refresh and renew you

Come 

And

BE...

God Relented

“God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. God relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them, and he didn't do it” (Jonah 3:10).

God knows the ending from the beginning

God knows who would obey Him and who would rebel

God knows who would repent and who would harden their heart

God continues to call out to us

He wants us to turn to Him

Even when He knew how we would respond

Our Loving Father continues to call us

To go back to Him

To return to His embrace

To accept and receive His grace and mercy

Our Loving Father has His arms outstretched toward us

Awaiting our return

Ready to enfold us in His

Safe

Fierce

Gentle

Intimate

Soothing 

Forgiving

Comforting

Passionate

Grace-filled

Merciful

Embrace

Throughout history Israel has rebelled

Throughout history God has called out to the Israelites

To repentance

God sent prophets

Some they stoned

Some they killed

God sent His beloved and only Son

We still rebelled

Rejected

Nailed

Jesus on the cross

Yet God’s love is unrelenting

His faithfulness unfailing

His forgiveness unwavering

His commitment undaunting

His mercies new every morning

His invitation for us to return incessant

The Father disciplines whom He loves

The goal of discipline is for us to return

Into an intimate relationship

Into an obedient relationship

Back into a loving relationship

Back into a protected relationship

Back into a flourishing relationship

While there is hardship 

Outside of an intimate

Submitted

Loving

Relationship with God

 

God calls us back

So that He might 

Relent

From continuing to 

Allow 

Us to

Experience the consequences of our rebellion

Being outside of His umbrella of protection

Repent

Return

Relent

From our ways now

So we might experience 

God’s relent

And receive His abundance of

Blessing

Joy

Intimacy

In His arms

In His embrace

"One Thing Remains" - Song to worship with: by Jesus Culture

Be it Unto Me According to Your Word

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” – Luke 1:38

Mary was a young teen engaged to Joseph

Mary was a virgin saving herself for Joseph

Mary was around 15 or 16 when she gave birth to Jesus

Before she was married

The angel of the Lord came and broke the news to Mary

She will bear a child

The long-awaited Messiah

The Holy Spirit will

Come upon Mary

Overshadow her

And she will give birth to 

The Son of God

This impregnation is not done by

Man

Human means

Nor by human desires or schemes

It is and

It must be

Accomplished

Only 

By

God the Father

Through the Holy Spirit

The arrival of the Son of God

The Triune God at work together

Mary is the vessel

Through which God’s plan will be carried out

Mary has to be willing

Mary has to be trusting

Mary has to have the fortitude

To endure the questioning of her

Chastity

Integrity

Character

To submit herself to others’

Distain

Scrutiny

Mockery

Suspicion

The fact that this teen was chosen by God to bear the Christ Child

Indicated that Mary was of a

Holy

Pure

Godly

Upright

Character

Known by others to be such as well

Her reputation will now be in question

The privileges and honor of being a godly teen

Is now in question

Imagine you being a teenager

With an impeccable reputation

A spiritual prodigy of sorts

Known and admired by others

At this high and lofty place

God asks of you 

To step down from the pedestal

And abase yourself into the muck and mire

Willingness to be debased

To be ridiculed

To be defamed

To be wronged

Maybe your rivals 

Mock

Snicker 

Rejoice

At your downfall

Yet

Because of whom Mary was at the core

Because her faith was real

Because her spirituality was bona fide

Mary was willing

Like her Son was willing

To step down from heaven

Leaving behind His lofty station

Forgoing all His rights and honor

Willingly took on the form of a man

Became weak and humble for our sakes

And died for our sins on the cross

To take on this station

To become the means

Through which 

God’s salvation plan

Come to fruition

Through the Fruit of her womb

Be it unto me

According to Your word

Total trust

Total sacrifice

Total surrender

Total debasement

For the sake of God

That

His Kingdom can come

His will be done

On earth

In Mary’s life

Through Mary’s willingness

As 

It 

Is 

In 

Heaven

That the Name of God be

Lifted up

Glorified

Magnified

Through this lowly and humble teen

Through Mary’s willingness 

God the Creator

Holy Spirit the Accomplisher

Jesus the Messiah is born into the world

Praise be to God

When we are willing to be

Trusting

Humbled

Debased

Submitted 

Surrendered

To God’s plan 

Us lowly human become

Vessels

Witnesses

Ambassadors

The Bible others read

Conduits through whom God is known

Us

God’s plan becomes accomplished

Through our

Willingness

Obedience

Surrender

Fortitude

May we be like Mary

Be it unto me

According to Your word

May Your will be done

In and through me

Today

"Your Will be Done" - Song by CityAlight

God’s Plan in Exile

“…I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians. 6 My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. 7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart” (Jeremiah 24: 5b-7).

When the Israelites sinned repeatedly and rebelled against God

God punished them by sending them into captivity

God is not a mean or punishing God

God does not banish us forever

God does not abandon us

God always has a plan

His plan for us is 

Restoration

Reconciliation 

Intimacy with Him

When we don’t learn from

God’s unmerited favor

God’s continued blessing

God cooing us to Himself in sweet fellowship

When we drift from God in the good times

We live with entitlement to God’s blessings

We expect and demand God’s bounty

Forgetting what God has done for us

Taking for granted God’s favor

We become proud and independent from God

God’s heart is grieved

God yearns for our love and relationship

God wants us to be dependent on Him

God wants our constant fellowship

God craves intimacy with us

He desires for us to be part of the circle with the Triune God

God the Father

Jesus the Savior

Holy Spirit the Comforter

God calls for us to join Him in this intimate circle 

Where we become one with our Triune God

And He with us

The intimacy of fellowship between the wings of the cherubim

In the Holy of Holies

Where

All is quiet

Hushed presence of God

Peace-filled

Shalom

Sacred

Holy

Where God is

 Where God wants us to join Him

When we break fellowship with God

Turn our backs on Him

Take Him for granted

Go about our lives without consulting Him

Only seeing what we want to see in the Scriptures

Making God into a genie or our servant

Turning deaf ears to His voice

Hardening our hearts

Ignoring Him

God’s heart is grieved

If blessings don’t bring us close to Him

God gives us over to our sinful desires

God sends difficulties and trials

So we can learn that

Without God we are nothing

Without Him we are destitute

God’s plan amid our self-induced sufferings though

Is to call us back to Him

In our darkest night

God has a plan for us

God’s perpetual plan

God’s unchanging desire is

For us to draw close to Him

For us to depend on Him

For us to turn to Him

With all our heart

While not all our difficulties are self-induced

Sometimes there are trials and testings

God making us holy through difficulties

God molding and forming and refining us

God showing Himself glorious through us

The end desire still is

For us to draw close to God

To be intimate with Him

To rely on Him

and Him only

God’s plan for us is

Always

To bless us

To draw us close to Him

To have us love Him with 

All of our heart

All of our soul

All of our mind

All of our strength

"God is Love" - Song by Kathy Nichole

Think about Such Things

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8).

When we are anxious

When we are worried

When we are fearful

When we perseverate

When we fret

When our minds are preoccupied

When we get distracted

Actively engage our mind on Christ

On whatever is

True

Noble

Right

Pure

Lovely

Admirable

Excellent

Praiseworthy

Characteristics and traits of Jesus

When Peter kept his gaze on Jesus while walking on the water

He was perfectly fine

Amid the storm

Walking on water

When our eyes are on Jesus

The Author and Perfector 

The Creator

The Sustainer

Of our life

Of our calling

Our perspectives change

Our mindsets change

Our priorities change

Our focus change

We get to do the divine exchange

We exhale our 

Anxieties

Worries

Fears

Perseverations

Preoccupations

Things we have no control over

We breathe in instead

God’s sovereignty

God’s protection

God’s provision

God’s love

God’s comfort

God’s presence

We give our life’s control 

Over to

God’s control

Because God is

True

Noble

Right

Pure

Lovely

Admirable

Excellent

Praiseworthy

God is trustworthy

He is loving

He is tender

He delights in caretaking of us

God loves to shower us with His

Love

Tender mercies

Unmerited favor

God dances and sings over us

He attends to us

He loves us with a tender loving heart

He embraces us and carries us

In the crook of His arm

Holding us close to His bosom

Cradling us even as He is

Fighting for us

Protecting us as a mother hen for her chicks

This is our God

Our Father

Who is in heaven

Who reigns over the earth

Who is sovereign over our lives

Who sees every detail of our lives

Who attends to all our needs

The God Who cares

The God Who loves

The God Who attends to us

The Trustworthy God

Who adores us

Anxieties be gone

Worries eliminated

Fears vanish

When we keep 

Our gaze

Our focus

Our mind

Steadfastly

On Who God is

in and through Christ

Enjoy song by " God Really Loves Us" by Crowder