“You look like someone who’s going to be really fat when you grow up and maybe have children”
“I’m not sure if you can handle this, you look kind of weak”
” you have no idea what life is like, Just wait till you experience difficulties and we’ll see if you can handle it”
Maybe just like me, one, two, many times, you’ve heard people say similar things like those above to you.
This month we’ve been talking about “Great Expectations”. We’ve reminded you of God’s great and awesome expectations for you, we’ve also encouraged you to have great expectations for yourself.
Today however, I want to let you know that as much as God has expectations for you and you for yourself, other people also have their own expectations for you. Unfortunately however these aren’t always great expectations. People could have really strong expectations of you that they’d be willing to go all out to make sure that those expectations become a reality in your life.
I’m going to tell you a little story of a man. This man was prospering and doing pretty well; walking in purpose and doing exactly what God called him to do. Some other men – more than forty of them had their own expectations of him. They expected him to end up dead. They wanted this so bad that they were ready to give up food and any drink for days just to make sure it happened. Not only that, they took an oath that bound them to this! They were ready to sacrifice anything to make sure this happened! This man was called Paul and he beat their expectations of him because God helped him. (see Acts 23:12-35) .
How much are you ready to sacrifice to see God’s expectations of you and your expectations for your life come to reality? You’d better be ready to sacrifice a lot because there are people around you who are ready to sacrifice more than you can imagine for their own expectations of you to become a reality!
You’ve got to exceed those expectations!
Girl! You’ve got to fight! Life’s no joke! The devil isn’t out to play games with you! You’ve got to buckle up and fight for the things you’re expecting and hoping to see in your life.
Whenever I think about what people expect or expected of me, I’m not going to lie, I feel hurt sometimes. But certain things help me overcome;
* Use those expectations they have of you to fuel your drive and determination.
There’s one statement in particular someone said to me years ago that I always remember. He said something like “everyone in your family seems to be ending up this way, and you’re going to join them too”. I remember how much that hurt at first. But I quickly turned that into motivation. It motivated me to work harder and pray harder! I’m glad to say I exceeded that expectation he had of me.
Let the expectations others have of you fuel your drive to achieve your own expectations of yourself
* Don’t lose focus
Sometimes when you hear something over and over again, subconsciously, you’re retaining them and slowly accepting them. If you don’t pay close attention, they’ll become youre reality. That’s why you must always remind yourself of God’s promises and your own expectations. Don’t pay so much attention the expectations others have of you that it becomes your reality.
You got expectations? Work hard to turn them into a reality. Above all, pray hard and trust God because He alone can help you when no one else can.