EXPECTATIONS

PASTOR RYAN LADEN – DEVOTIONALS

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I have often joked that the secret to an happy life is to lower your expectations. While I see this as a reminder to expect less from others so that I can receive the people around me as they are, there is some truth to the fact that our expectations make a huge impact on how we enjoy this life. 

In the passage that follows, we hear about how the misplaced expectations of the disciples nearly caused them to miss out on the mission that the resurrected Jesus Christ presented to the church prior to his ascension. 

6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.

(Acts 1:6-7 NIV11)

Verse 6

What were the disciples asking Jesus? 

They wanted to know if Jesus would finally become the Messiah that they expected him to be. 

They, like many others, had an expectation that the Messiah would be a political leader who would establish the physical kingdom of Israel on earth. They expected Jesus to overthrow the enemies of Israel and to lead the kingdom into a period of eternal rule over all the other peoples of the earth. 

There they were, standing before the resurrected Christ, who was present in his glorified and eternal state, receiving the promise that the Heavenly Father was about to bestow on the them the gift of the very presence of God in the work and person of the Holy Spirit. And because of their misplaced expectations, they were missing it. 

Verse 7

The Lord responded to their misplaced expectations with a simple answer, “it’s none of your business”.  

The disciples wanted to know something that only the Father knows. Jesus reminded them of this fact so that they would let go of their preoccupation with the events and times associated with the return of the Messiah, the recreation of the created order, and the final state of all of God’s faithful. 

Today, we too get lost in this same question. Some people are not satisfied with the information that Jesus Christ was willing to share about the “end times” and so they spend a large amount of their time and energy pursuing an answer to the same question asked by the disciples. 

We should listen to the Lord. Hear the big ideas, trust in his promises, and prepare your heart and mind for the Lord to return at any moment. But we should not fall into the trap of placing our expectations ahead of the clear command of Christ to leave these details in the hands of God. 

Verse 8

After this exchange, Jesus Christ called his people to take their eyes off the times and events of this world and to set their eyes on the mission that the Lord has given to his church. Listen to how this mission sounded in the following:

8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses  in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,  and to the ends of the earth.”

This is the mission that all who are in Christ are called to be about in this life. We cannot let our desire to know more about God’s timing and plans to derail us from our mission to be filled with the Spirit as we bear witness to the reality of Jesus Christ with all whom we come into contact. 

Our mission is great and the Lord wants to use us today to build his glorious kingdom. 

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for the gift of your calling. You provide us with power and strength so that we might accomplish the plan that you have for us. We are not on our own, you are always at work in us and through us. Thank you Lord. 

In Christ, 

Ryan Laden

PASTOR RYAN LADEN

Senior Pastor at PARK HILL BAPTIST CHURCH

Worked at MTN. CHURCH

Former Senior pastor at Warnbro Community Church

Studies at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Studied at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Studied at Baylor University

Studied at Texas Tech University

Went to Castle Hills First Baptist

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