Not What We Expected

 

Nothing happens the same way twice, dear one.

Aslan to Lucy in Prince Caspian

 

Unmet expectations, over time, act like acid dripped on the arm of hope.  It’s so easy to draw the picture of “the good life” in our minds, either as a pleasurable visualization of the future or overly idealistic memory of the past.  When those thwarted pictures translate into resentment towards the Creator who devised our circumstances we experience what author Larry Crabbed describes as Shattered Dreams:

 

Shattered dreams open the door to better dreams, dreams that we do not properly value until the dreams that we improperly value are destroyed.  Shattered dreams destroy false expectations, such as the “victorious” Christian life with no real struggle or failure.  They help us discover true hope. We need the help of shattered dreams to put us in touch with what we most long for, to create a felt appetite for better dreams.  And living for the better dreams generates a new, unfamiliar feeling that we eventually recognize as joy.

 

Peter, Susan, and Lucy experienced unmet expectations at the end of Prince Caspian.  I recommend that you read the lyrics to Regina Spektor’s song “The Call” (below) before watching the following clip:

 

The Call

Regina Spektor

 

It started out as a feeling
Which then grew into a hope
Which then turned into a quiet thought
Which then turned into a quiet word

And then that word grew louder and louder
‘Til it was a battle cry

I’ll come back
When you call me
No need to say goodbye

Just because everything’s changing
Doesn’t mean it’s never
Been this way before

All you can do is try to know
Who your friends are
As you head off to the war

Pick a star on the dark horizon
And follow the light

You’ll come back
When it’s over
No need to say good bye

You’ll come back
When it’s over
No need to say good bye

Now we’re back to the beginning
It’s just a feeling and no one knows yet
But just because they can’t feel it too
Doesn’t mean that you have to forget

Let your memories grow stronger and stronger
‘Til they’re before your eyes

You’ll come back
When they call you
No need to say good bye

You’ll come back
When they call you
No need to say good bye

 

 

Are you reeling from any “shattered dreams” after 2008?  I know I am.  But I’m also slowly, very slowly, recognizing – as Peter did in the clip that “It’s not what I expected, but it’s okay.”   

We may have abundant opportunities to experience unmet expectations in 2009 – and quite possibly we will not be blessed the way we think we should be blessed.  It won’t be what we expected; after all, “Nothing happens the same way twice, dear one.”  But if we trust Him when He destroys our false expectations, we will find an appetite for better dreams, and He will give us what we most long for…. Himself.

THE Agent of Chaos

 

New Life begins at the Cross.  It’s there you realize how arrogant you are.  You don’t welcome trials.  You lived for no greater purpose than to avoid them if they come.  Your ambition has risen no higher than a life that works pretty well.  Perhaps you’ve disguised your narcissism by dressing it up in Christian clothing.  Find fulfillment in ministry. Clean up your life.  Overcome your sexual addiction.  Live by the Book.  But now you see that none of it had God at the center.  God’s glory has mattered little to you.  A quality life is what you’re after.  And Christianity, or the Christian culture, provides you with the meaning, the sense of community, and the respect you desire.  The Spiritual Cycle begins with brokenness.  It hurts.  The two Old Way cycles are much more seeker friendly.

 

Larry Crabb

The Pressure’s Off

 

Plans, plans, plans.  Boy did we have plans.  Plans for a world without war and terrorism.  Plans for a stable economy in the “most powerful” country in the world.  Plans for prosperity, stability, and a life on the pristine slopes of Bliss Mountain.  It’s easy, so easy to think life should be A = B; we live right, we invest right, we raise kids right, we eat right – we should be able to live right – without bumps, stumps, and valleys as deep as the Mariana Trench. 

 

But then, we have this Enemy… don’t we?  What a “Jokester”, eh?  He laughs at our expectations… yea our demands on God to bless with a stable life and financial success.  Reap the rewards, right? That’s our plan…

I don’t want to sound fatalistic (especially right before the holidays – sorry about that), but let’s face it – we’re in for one heck of a ride in the 2009, maybe from here on.  With an international recession, a proliferation of available weaponry to terrorists, and the possible resurgence of an old (and desperate) enemy the probability of a major Black Swan striking in the next few years is dramatically high.  But even if blessings (as we define them) disappear and chaos produced by THE Agent of Chaos (who I’ve also referred to as the Illusionist) seems to decimate all we have known as a “normal” quality of life, God is still in control and His glory will prevail. 

 

Prepare now; prepare your son now.  Break with expectations of normality and invest in those things (like your relationships with God, family and friends) that will transcend the chaos that is almost sure to come.  And when the time comes we will be the Agents of THE Creator who will combat THE Agent of Chaos.