Who Am I?
Someone who grew up with delusions of what life would be.
Married Life:
As a child, my only goal was to be a mother. I loved my mom, and I thought raising babies would be wonderful. My husband would work at a great job and we would be deliriously happy.
As a teen, my goal was to get a husband. I never thought too much about his character or whether he would treat me right. Nope, whomever I married would be perfect, just like in the movies. I didn't even know a husband could be mean to a wife. I'd never seen it. My father was mean to us kids but treated my mom like a queen.
I did get married, and raising babies was wonderful. I was deliriously happy. My husband didn't have a great job, but he had a good one. We could pay the rent and eat! We could even buy clothes! Life was terrific until I found a note in his pocket from a girl he was seeing. Not so terrific.
My husband said he was bored with me. I had become a Christian. Very boring. Divorce time. Shock and awe time. I thought since I loved him and was a good wife, he would love me. Delusion time is over. As I've said before, I don't blame him since I changed after we got married from "fun party-girl" into "sober Christian."
Other delusions: I thought friends would always be nice to me. I thought church people would be kind and caring. I thought co-workers would be helpful. I thought car companies made safe cars. I thought Presidents of the U.S. were always good men.
Where did I get this rosy picture of Life? TV? Movies? Books? I think so. The way the media is today, I doubt young people are as deluded about life as I was. In fact, I am still shocked today about what people do. Like the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. It is unbelievable what people/politicians will do for money. They will actually kill people; go to war against a country for money. Kill thousands, if not millions of people for money. This is amazing to me!
I'm writing about this topic because I was reading a book about how we have unrealistic expectations of people and of God. I certainly believe this, and I think it causes us all many problems.
What do we expect from our children? It seems like nothing short of perfection! We want good behavior, good grades, and intelligence. We want them to marry well, have a good job, live in a nice house and give us perfect grandchildren.
Then the author asked what we expect from God. Maybe we expect too much - keep us safe, don't let us get sick, protect everyone we love, make sure we have enough money, make sure we get that promotion, and make us behave perfectly.
I have found it far better to say in every prayer, "Thy will be done." I will wait upon God, but I will not expect the answer I long for because he knows better than I do what the right answer is.
Who is God?
God is not deluded about us or anything else.
"Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person."
John 2:23,24
God knows we are a mess. He knows we are dysfunctional. He knows, yet he loves us so deeply he died to save us. He covers us with his goodness. We don't have to manufacture our own goodness. It is impossible.
God unites his heart with ours and we become one with him.
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.
May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. John 17:20-23
Jesus prayed this when he knew his friends would desert him, when he knew Peter would deny he knew him, when he knew they would sleep instead of praying with him. He wanted to be one with them and he loved them and would love them forever. He certainly didn't expect them to be perfect!
Someone who grew up with delusions of what life would be.
Married Life:
As a child, my only goal was to be a mother. I loved my mom, and I thought raising babies would be wonderful. My husband would work at a great job and we would be deliriously happy.
As a teen, my goal was to get a husband. I never thought too much about his character or whether he would treat me right. Nope, whomever I married would be perfect, just like in the movies. I didn't even know a husband could be mean to a wife. I'd never seen it. My father was mean to us kids but treated my mom like a queen.
I did get married, and raising babies was wonderful. I was deliriously happy. My husband didn't have a great job, but he had a good one. We could pay the rent and eat! We could even buy clothes! Life was terrific until I found a note in his pocket from a girl he was seeing. Not so terrific.
My husband said he was bored with me. I had become a Christian. Very boring. Divorce time. Shock and awe time. I thought since I loved him and was a good wife, he would love me. Delusion time is over. As I've said before, I don't blame him since I changed after we got married from "fun party-girl" into "sober Christian."
Other delusions: I thought friends would always be nice to me. I thought church people would be kind and caring. I thought co-workers would be helpful. I thought car companies made safe cars. I thought Presidents of the U.S. were always good men.
Where did I get this rosy picture of Life? TV? Movies? Books? I think so. The way the media is today, I doubt young people are as deluded about life as I was. In fact, I am still shocked today about what people do. Like the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. It is unbelievable what people/politicians will do for money. They will actually kill people; go to war against a country for money. Kill thousands, if not millions of people for money. This is amazing to me!
I'm writing about this topic because I was reading a book about how we have unrealistic expectations of people and of God. I certainly believe this, and I think it causes us all many problems.
What do we expect from our children? It seems like nothing short of perfection! We want good behavior, good grades, and intelligence. We want them to marry well, have a good job, live in a nice house and give us perfect grandchildren.
Then the author asked what we expect from God. Maybe we expect too much - keep us safe, don't let us get sick, protect everyone we love, make sure we have enough money, make sure we get that promotion, and make us behave perfectly.
I have found it far better to say in every prayer, "Thy will be done." I will wait upon God, but I will not expect the answer I long for because he knows better than I do what the right answer is.
Who is God?
God is not deluded about us or anything else.
"Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person."
John 2:23,24
God knows we are a mess. He knows we are dysfunctional. He knows, yet he loves us so deeply he died to save us. He covers us with his goodness. We don't have to manufacture our own goodness. It is impossible.
God unites his heart with ours and we become one with him.
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.
May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. John 17:20-23
Jesus prayed this when he knew his friends would desert him, when he knew Peter would deny he knew him, when he knew they would sleep instead of praying with him. He wanted to be one with them and he loved them and would love them forever. He certainly didn't expect them to be perfect!
