I don’t know about you, but I had big expectations for 2020! Probably more than in years past. The year 2020 just seemed more significant! But, why? Well, it’s a nice round number. So, there’s that. There was also lot of hype on social media and in the news. And personally, 2020 happens to be my 40th year.
2020 felt like it should be pretty monumental!
No matter the reasons, I think we all had expectations for 2020. And then we got hit…with the unexpected. Right now, we are living in uncertain times. And we DON’T like uncertainty. Look back at the history of the human race and it’s easy to see - We like CONTROL. We like COMFORT. And we work very hard to keep those things within our grasp!
Last week, when the official order came to shelter in place, things got real for all of us. Almost overnight, the things we EXPECTED to be in place went out the window. Big things like – adults going to work, kids going to school, doctors having answers and the economy being stable. And simple things like -going to lunch with friends, getting a hair cut, and grocery shopping without a face mask…
All of it seemed to vanish.
Louie Giglio has a fabulous devotional for kids about God and science. And ironically, the very day that everything truly “shut down”, the devotion we read to our kids was all about sink holes. You know about sink holes – they’re the fascinating and eerie cave-ins that happen when the ground beneath the earth gives way. They’re often unexpected. And they can happen in an instant – just when we THINK we are standing firm. And as we were reading about them with the kids, I was struck by the thought, “Wow. The whole earth is like one giant sink hole right now and we are all scrambling for solid ground!”
It’s a scary thing to realize that the things we depend on and EXPECT to be in place have “given way,” isn’t it? And now we’re all faced with a dilemma…What do we do with all these unmet expectations?? What do we do when we have SO LITTLE control?
A mentor of mine, Terry Hargrave, says, “We cannot control EVERYTHING, but we are always empowered to do SOME things.” Think about that for a minute. We’re always empowered to do SOME things.So I’ve been thinking – perhaps we can shift our perspective. We’re dealing with a lot of UN-met expectations. And there’s a lot we CAN’T control…
But what if we could view some of our unmet expectations as OPPORTUNITIES?
You see, I believe we (as a culture) have been running at a frantic pace for quite some time now. Instead of facing discomfort, we’ve gotten pretty good at checking-out and numbing-out. We’ve been over-scheduled and disconnected from what we SAY our priorities are.
But now we’ve got some time. A forced “pause,” if you will. Now, don’t get me wrong. There’s no way around the severity of this situation. There’s real fear. And real suffering. But I believe that even in the bleakest of situations, there are always SOME opportunities for us to grow. And whether we’d like to admit it or not, most of us don’t grow (or even recognize that there is an OPPORTUNITY for growth) when things are humming along just fine. But when trials come…when we’re faced with uncertainty…THAT’S when we realize we can’t control everything, but we are always empowered to do SOME things.
So, what opportunity is on the table for you in this season?
Getting more comfortable with stillness
Being more present with your children
Learning to deal with the emotions you’ve buried
Admitting that your marriage needs healing
Noticing needs around you and having the time to tend to them
Telling God you forgot how much you need Him…
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.”