Expect the Unexpected

by Nicole Massie Martin

Read Exodus 5:10–23

Then Moses turned again to the Lord and said, “O Lord , why have you mistreated this people? Why did you ever send me? Since I first came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has mistreated this people, and you have done nothing at all to deliver your people.” (5:22–23)

It was supposed to be different. When Moses agreed to follow God, things were supposed to get better. The lives of the Israelites should have gotten better. Moses and his family should have been better off. Saying “yes” to God was supposed to lead to increase, not decrease. But instead of getting better, things began to get worse.

God met with Moses and promised to deliver the Israelites. God promised they would be free to worship and no longer bound to the Egyptians. But Pharaoh denied the request for worship and decided to make their lives worse. Demanding more bricks with less straw, the promise of freedom instantly turned into the reinforcement of slavery. Is this what God had in mind all along?

Life with God is filled with promises and expectations. However, God’s promises are not always fulfilled when or how we expect. We can be so focused on an expected result of a promise that we lose sight of the source of the promise. In our anguish, we want God to move quickly, wasting no time to do what God promised to do. Yet even in desperate times, we are called to reset our expectations of God. This becomes a sacred opportunity to take the focus off of what God does and refocus on who God is.

What expectations must you surrender today? How can you redirect your attention from what God does to who God is? When you lean in, you might be surprised how God allows you to let go. While your assignment or suffering may not immediately change, God can strengthen you to let go of the resentment associated with your pain. Leaning in helps us to discover that our trouble does not trouble God one bit.

God, reset my expectations. Shift my gaze from your hands to your heart and carry me through all my troubles. Thank you for teaching me how to wait on you.