Getting Past Ourselves

Proverbs 3:5 NIV Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.

Sounds simple enough…right? Many of us have memorized this verse and the following promise, “and He will make your paths straight.” We see it on wall hangings and screen savers, yet the greatest spiritual battle we often face is getting past our own thinking and how we believe God should or will answer our prayers. Our own plans and expectations are the most difficult areas to surrender and trust.

Expectations are a powerful force. You may be able to quote Isaiah 55:8, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord,” yet still expect God to do His work according to our expectations. Whether positive or negative, expecting certain outcomes directly influences your thoughts and drives your actions. We frequently carry the responsibility of planning our lives, settling for a daily grind filled with pressure and fatigue, when God is longing to guide us and satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts.

God is calling us to surrender our own expectations, fully trust in His ways, and know He will fulfill the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4). That is the essence of faith, and without it, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Faith is trust and confidence in God despite unseen circumstances, whereas expectations are anticipation of a specific result based on our own understanding, logic, or past experiences. Faith is believing God will act—not how he will act. God acts because He is faithful. Faith offers peace during the process, while unmet expectations lead to frustration.

One of the greatest examples in scripture of expectations versus faith is contained in 2 Kings 5. Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a highly regarded and courageous soldier who had led many victorious battles. But there was a problem—Naaman had leprosy. Through the suggestion of a young slave girl, his king sent Naaman to Israel and a meeting with Elisha. Naaman arrived with all of his horses and chariots and high expectations. 2 Kings 5:11 states, “I thought that he would surely come out and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot, and cure me of my leprosy.” But Elisha instead sent him a simple message: “Go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River.” This infuriated Naaman as he expected a more dramatic and worthy healing. As he turned to head back home, one of his servants said, “If the prophet had told you to do some great thing, wouldn’t you have done it?” So Naaman agreed and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times. His flesh was instantly healed and became clean as a young boy. Naaman almost allowed his pride and expectations of how God would heal keep him from receiving the deepest desire of his heart.

How often have we done the same, refusing God’s hand in our lives because it did not fit our narrative? Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were not delivered from the fire but through the fire. This is so often how God works—and out of it an entire nation was transformed. David spent years running from Saul, and God used every moment of it to shape his life for Kingdom purposes. Paul wrote much of the New Testament from prison or house arrest. God often places us in situations we cannot win on our own, only to walk with us through the challenge, demonstrating his love, grace, and mercy along the way.

When we begin to build boxes and formulas around how God works, how He answers our prayers; we are putting ourselves on the throne and expecting God to respond according to our wishes. No matter how holy and righteous those wishes and desires are, God has his own ways, and those ways are also focused on His Kingdom and bringing glory and honor to His name. Exchange your expectations for faith in God’s ways. If you lean not on your own understanding, then He can and will direct your steps.

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Gary and Sandy Anthony

Proverbs 28:26 NIV Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.

1 Corinthians 3:18-19 NASB Take care that no one deceives himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God.

1 Corinthians 1:27 ESV But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.

Mark 11:24 NIV Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Psalm 37:4-5 NASB Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 NASB Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water that extends its roots by a stream and does not fear when the heat comes, but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.

Psalm 62:8 NIV Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.

Isaiah 12:2 NIV Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.

Proverbs 3:7 NIV Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.

Jeremiah 10:23 NASB I know, Lord, that a person’s way is not in himself, nor is it in a person who walks to direct his own steps.

Psalms 146:3-5 NIV Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.

Romans 12:16 NLT Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

Psalm 125:1 NLT Those who trust in the Lord are as secure as Mount Zion; they will not be defeated but will endure forever.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 NLT This is what the Lord says: “Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the Lord, have spoken!

Proverbs 22:19 NIV So that your trust may be in the Lord, I teach you today, even you.