Expectations

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Matthew 11:2–6 ESV

I think there comes a point in everyone’s homeschooling journey where they begin to question if the decision to do so was correct. There are those times when the doubts pile up due to the unmet expectations we fail to achieve. When that happens, we begin to have questions like, “Is God really wanting me to do this? If so, why do I not see the good in it?”

I want you to know that these temporary feelings are nothing to be alarmed about. I also want you to know that it is a perfectly normal situation to find yourself in, and you are not the only person who has ever felt that way.

I am reminded of the story when John the Baptist was locked in jail for doing the right thing. He knew from childhood that his role was to prepare the way for Jesus to come on the scene. He had been preaching for years and had a ministry that had gained major attention. He even baptized the Lord Jesus and was there at the beginning of His ministry. His message was, “The Kingdom of God is at hand!” He was on top of his ministry, the King was on the scene, and things were looking up...until.

John ended up finding himself in prison for preaching the truth. He was taken out of the limelight of ministry, with only a few of his disciples left following him. It was then, at that low moment, that he began to doubt.

The reason he was doubting all of his decisions up to that point was that his expectations were not happening. If he had been doing the work of the Lord, why was he rotting in a jail cell?

His message had been, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” He had been there when the voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son,” when he baptized Jesus. Why then did he send messengers to ask Jesus, “Are you the Messiah, or do we look for someone else?” It was there in jail where his doubts were trying to get the best of him. John was not wrong for having a doubt or a question. He was seriously confused at the moment and was asking for confirmation to make sure he was not in error.

The reason John had doubts was because things were not turning out how he had thought they would. Yes, the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. But John was expecting a political ruler to step up and drive the Roman Empire out of Israel, and it wasn’t happening. Instead of things getting better, he was doing what God called him to do and was rotting in a jail cell. Things were not going as planned!

Jesus’ answer to him was this: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” Jesus’ answer to John was telling him to take his eyes off what he expected and to look deeper into what God was doing.

There are times in our lives of raising children that things don’t seem to go as we expect. It is during those times when we begin to doubt ourselves and question if God is really behind us. It isn’t wrong to have those feelings. In fact, it is quite normal. When those times come (and they will), don’t think for one second that God has abandoned you. Rather, take stock of the work of God around you.

Chances are that your situation is not as desperate as John’s. It doesn’t get much worse than a jail cell in the ancient world. But what we can learn from this is that our focus should be on doing what God has called us to do, despite the external circumstances that occur around us. It turns out that Jesus gave the confirmation to John that he had been doing the right thing, and things were going as God had intended them to go.

I want to tell you that if you are following the call of God in your life, and you are faithful in doing His work, don’t put hope in the expectations of your own ability. Rather, put your hope in the completed work of God. John had some pretty big expectations that he was disappointed not to see happen. However, Jesus had a much bigger plan that was unfolding.

Jesus' call to you is the same as His response to John: “Trust me.” Don’t feel discouraged when things don’t meet your expectations. Most often, the reason we do not see what we want happening is that God has a much better plan than our expectations could even compare to.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation.

Hebrews 11:1–2 ESV