Drops Of Inspiration

Beyond Expectations- April 2017

Something that everyone is the most skilled at doing is hiding.

We hide ourselves from the hard things in life- whether it's a one hour test or a one year trial- because we are too intimidated to face the challenges. We hide ourselves from others- from their opinions, how they see us, and how they are different from us. We hide ourselves from God- often feeling too ashamed to be before His presence- and naively think that we have to fix our problems on our own. And then, we hide ourselves from ourselves- trying not to remember who we are, and all the mistakes we've made. We wrap ourselves under a blanket to make ourselves comfortable, then move on thinking that that blanket will protect us.

But what we really think is protecting us from the circumstances of life is only trapping us from experiencing them.

We have to constantly remember that we are not alone. That we are not the only ones who are going through the tough situations that we struggle with. That there are people around us to help us go through life together, both the ups and the downs. That people who don't want to climb their own mountains on their own will joyfully go over each and every one of them if they are together. God has created us to be together and to do life together, hand in hand, until the whole world unites in showing genuine love to one another, no matter who they are.

Never be ashamed of who God made you to be. He takes joy in all of you- both the good and the bad- because He uses your struggles to shape you and strengthen you as His child.

Why are your expectations of yourself so high? Why do you try so hard to prove yourself to everyone? Why do you think you fail even though you are doing absolutely amazing? Soon your expectations don't become your own; they become everyone else's expectations of yourself. And soon those expectations will pile up so high and so heavily that you will fall, giving up and letting your expectations become as low as nothing. Either way, you are never pleased with yourself, and your expectations define who you are. The lies strike: "You're a failure, you're worthless, you'll never do anything right." They fill you and overwhelm you until you can't seem to believe anything else, until soon your only expectations are those of falling and failing.

This is what we hide. We hide our failures, our doubts, and the lies that we think define our value on the inside. That safe, soft blanket that keeps us in the dark- unseen and unbearable- hardens into cement as we let it mold around our hearts and set itself so much that we shut the light out. We let the blanket barrier define us in its barren bondage.

But remember what Romans 8:1 states: that "there is therefore now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." He taps on the cement to crack through the bitterness, to let the light shine through the darkness, to let love heal into the brokenness, to let His arms embrace you in His everlasting faithfulness.

His expectations are what define you, what give you value, and what give you life. He loves you so much that He desires only the best for you, wanting you to not worry about the expectations that bear down upon your shoulders and hide you from the world. Instead of merely relieving your load by picking up all the weight from your shoulders, He relieves your heart by carrying you and thus shattering away everything you hid your beautiful self behind.

God created you to be you- to not conform to the expectations we bear and go beyond expectations, because our God goes beyond everything.