I read this yesterday and found it challenging. How does it strike you?
“…we hope in Someone and not merely for something. We expect things to happen, but we hope in the one who makes them happen. Our expectations can get in the way of our hope: The more specific expectations I have on my checklist (I expect you to think of my needs…to take care of me…to do your duty), the less I hope in you. If I do trust you, hope in you as a person, then I can set aside my checklist confident that you will be true and loving whether or not my expectations are met..” (Thomas H. Green. Come Down Zacchaeus: Spirituality & The Laity. Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 1988, p. 90.)
My hope is not focused on something I am expecting, but on Someone I am trusting. This is not a subtle difference. My expectations tend to focus on what I want rather than on Who I have embraced. Does He know what is good? Does He know what would satisfy me, even better than I do? Yes!
How does Green’s description of faith, hope and expectations shed light on your own conversational relationship with Christ these days?
