Preparing to visit family and friends. This seems like a normal thing. And maybe it is for some. But for us its not as easy as it seems. Many thoughts go through our minds. We have not seen people that speak English or spent time with family for a long time. The time is mostly weird for the first few hours or days. Then there are the expectations. This word has taken on a whole new meaning for me. We really put expectations on pretty much everything. And when things don’t live up to those expectations we get sad, angry, disappointed. Unmet expectations is the root of many ugly feelings.
So I will attempt to explain the ultimate unmet expectation. Going home or being with family for the holidays. Yes. I have an idea of what it might look like, what we want it to be like. What things to cook or bake. What we can do to make it the perfect Christmas experience. Then the family gets together, and for the most part none of these things happen or at least not according to the expectation. OR if they do they are forced; just to say we did it. People are now grumpy, sleepy, have eaten too much or drank too much.
Here is what I came up with. The reason why we are so eager for things to work a certain way may be because we are not comfortable with the way that they are right now or want to control what they will look like (meaning you do think you would be happy with how ever they turn out). Well that could just be because we are just not comfortable here on earth as it is not really our forever home. A sense of unsettled. We are just in a waiting pattern for the time we will be in our eternal life.
We are strangers on this earth. The things we think we want because the world has put those ideas in our heads, this gets me running around like I am in a hamster wheel chasing what I think I want. When I finally get what I was planning I am disappointed because its not what I expected. the Bible tells us, “For we are sojourners” just passing through….
The definition of a sojourner is from the Hebrew term which says a person or group residing temporarily in a place that is not their own. This term is mentioned over 35 times in the Bible. WE know that when things are mentioned often in the Bible they must be important.
With this in mind my expectations for how events, our interaction with people or any other plans is inevitable going to let me down as it should. This will remind me that I do not belong here I am a stranger. 1 Peter 2:11 tells us, “Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.” and 1 Chronicles 29:15 “For we are sojourners before You, and tenants, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow….” Many verses reminding me that this land, this time here on earth is temporary and that the more I plan and expect the more I am disappointed. I will pray that God gives me a spirit to be content with where I am in the moment in time God gives.My forever resting place is with Jesus at HIS table eating turkey and mashed potatoes.
Fosters on Mission 