Expectations

Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, my soul.

I will praise the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
Do not put your trust in princes,
    in human beings, who cannot save.
- Psalm 146:1-3

There’s a lot of temptation in our lives to please the people around us, to trust in their opinions to find our self-esteem, and to expect others to make us happy. It’s really, really hard to get inside our own hearts and extract those deep needs we have for others’ approval and the desire to have others take responsibility for us. And yet, how do we mature any other way?

On Sunday, Cody and Meghan talked about the freedom that comes from embracing our family as it is, without trying to get our families to make us feel better about ourselves. They asked this question, which is what we’ll meditate on today:

What is one expectation of your family that may be unrealistic and that is costing you something currently? 

Spend some time with God sorting through some of the ways you’ve been putting your expectations onto them. In so many ways, this is exactly what Psalm 146 is talking about: trusting in people we think have the authority to make our lives what we want them to be. What is God speaking to you about today? How might you respond?