expectation

advent
if you came in the spring,
we could expect newness,
bright yellow flowers
to soften your path,
the songs of birds
to herald your coming.
but you came in
winter's despair;
the chill of complacency
settled upon us.
if you came in summer
we could expect you
to be bronzed,
blonde,
stepping from the sea;
but you came
in a stable,
a wrinkled baby
with animals your midwives,
and angels your playmates.
help us to set down
our parcels of expectations
to reach down and scoop
you up in our arms,
your laughing breath
giving us life.
Amen.

Thom M. Shuman

What expectations do you hold of God - for God? The worlds' expectations of how God would appear were very different from what the reality was. It is easy for us to look back from our vantage point and say "How could they have missed it? It was so clear." That is the benefit of 20/20 hindsight.

I fear that I risk the same fate as those in the 1st century. I may miss God's movement in my life right now, right here, because I bring an expectation to it. I already have, in my head, how it will look, what He will do, how it will all work out. I may be so intent on looking for what I believe will happen, that i will miss what He is really doing, how He is really speaking to me.

I encourage you as I encourage myself - let go of the expectations. Let Him come to you in any way He desires - and be open and ready to receive what He has for you. Don't miss Him because it doesn't look the way you thought it would.....be ready to be surprised.

Grace and peace,
deb