Expectations

What if God Doesn’t Meet My Expectations?

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In his book The Prisoner in the Third Cell, Gene Edwards makes you face this question. That’s a good thing. Why? Because all of mankind has silently or openly asked it but not all have dared to stop and determine their answer.

Edwards makes you face this question by telling the story of John the Baptist. His was definitely a unique life. And at the end of it, he had questions that we can’t be certain he found satisfactory answers before his life was disregardly taken.

Other biblical characters faced the same challenge-Joseph, Job, Peter, Elijah, Ruth, Mary, Noah, Jonah, John, to name a few. Some of these were graciously granted a resurrected view of God before they died, but even that cannot be guaranteed to anyone who places their faith in God.

And therein is the core of the question. How deep is your faith? When your finite expectations are tested by an infinite God, what do you do? Will you continue to follow? If you want to be challenged to meditate further on these questions, this book is a good resource. If you can’t answer yes to the blog title question, this book should be in your next-to-read pile.

3 “Wows” for Jamie

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Jamie, Jamie, Jamie…Wow, Wow, Wow!  Occasionally someone goes so far beyond your expectations that all you can muster to say is, “Wow!” But you deserve three of them.

Yesterday, we (First Baptist Church, Bradenton) brought you an order for over 320 pairs of shoes to the Payless Shoe store you manage. Sure, we had given you a headsup a few days earlier. Sure, you were probably excited to receive this order. But, who knew you would turn it around so fast and so efficiently.

We left the order with you just before 1pm. You hinted you’d probably have it ready sometime this weekend. So the first “Wow” was earned when you called just four hours later to say you were done. Who does that? Well, apparently you do.

We arrived at the store to pick up the order. You had kept the order separated by girl and boy shoes, two separate carts. You had them lined up on the cart so that each shoe box was faced out so you could read the bar code with the register wand. You and your young employee shot through the ringing up and bagging of those 320 boxes like, “Yeah, this is normal.” And you paused to complete other customer’s purchases, as you should have, while using the only register in your store. So professional. So thorough. And you helped us load all those shoes in our vehicles. “Wow!”

But the biggest “Wow” goes to your graciousness. You knew the purpose of this order was to help us help local students at our partner school, Ballard Elementary. You had thought about how to help us with the cost. And the answer was through the BOGO sale going on. You could have ignored that for such a large order. You could have delayed completing the order to avoid giving us the discount. Instead, you brought it to our attention; we didn’t even notice that a sale was going on. You saved us over $1,200. Who does that? Jamie at Payless does.

Thank you, Jamie, for your efficiency, your courtesy, your heart, and your grace. God used you to “Wow” us yesterday. Keep “Wowing” your customers. Then may God bless you and show you His own “Wow!”