Expectations Management

Do you know that one of the keys to living a happy life is having reasonable expectations? That’s true with your marriage, you kids, and your career, but it’s also true with regard to the reality that all who live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12).

Now we live in a scary time. Just turn on the news and you’ll hear all about how ISIS is systematically persecuting and killing Christians all over Iraq and Syria, which is absolutely horrible. And yet, we should not be surprised by it. Jesus tells us in John 15:20, “Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” And Jesus gives us specific ideas of what that will look like and why it’s so important for us to be prepared. In John 16, He says, "The will put you out of the synagogues [so religious persecution]. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God” [so physical persecution]. But He also says this, “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.” So Jesus isn’t trying to scare us. Instead, He wants to keep us from falling away. And how does He do it? By making sure that we have reasonable expectations, so that we might keep our faith firmly grounded in Him.

Something to think about from the Proclamation point of view.