The Law of Expectation
There is a story recorded in the book of Acts, chapter 3, verses 1-10, of a lame beggar, who begged at the Temple every day. Being lame, that was the only way he had of making a living. There was day when Peter and John were going to the temple. They passed the man, as they were going to enter the temple. As they passed the man, Peter and John looked at the man and told him to look at them.
Then something interesting is recorded in the story. It states the man looked up at Peter and John, expecting to receive something from them. It's not recorded what the man was expecting. It just states he was in a state of expectation of receiving something from Peter and John. He was probably expecting to receive money from them. Peter then told the man, "I do not possess silver or gold, but what I do have, I give to you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise and walk."
It's then recorded that the man leaped up and walked. As he walked he was praising God for his healing. The man didn't know for sure what he was going to receive, but he was expecting. Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines "expectation" as a belief that something will happen or is likely to happen.
So, the man at the temple believed that something was going to happen. He didn't know what he was getting or what was going to happen, but he believed that something would happen.
The man experienced the effect of the Law of Expectation. This law states that "whatever you expect, with confidence, becomes your own self-fulfilling prophecy". What you get in life isn't necessarily what you want in life, but what you expect.
Take a moment and think about that. Ask yourself, what are you expecting from God and life? Are you expecting positive or negative? The Law of Expectation is very powerful. It is one of the most powerful of the laws of faith. Your expectations exert a very powerful influence in your life. They cause you to behave and situations to work out as you have anticipated.
Have you begun a day with something negative happening? Then, you say "it's going to be one of those days". What happens? Throughout the day "things happen" and our day doesn't go as we want. But, the day did go as expected. We declared that morning that it was going to be one of those days.
This may sound strange, but think about it. In a way, you're acting as your predictor of the future; a prophet in your own life, by the way you talk about the way you think things are going to turn out.
If you expect negative things to happen, they will. The reverse is true. If you expect positive things to happen in your life, they will happen as well.
The Law of Expectation holds true whether you have a benevolent or malevolent world view. As we saw, your world view is determined by your deeply held beliefs, which then lead to your perceptions, then your world view. So, if you hold a benevolent world view, you'll expect good things and for things to turn out well. If you have a malevolent world view, the opposite is true. You will expect negative things in life and expect things to not turn out so well.
All of this is rooted in your deeply held beliefs. It doesn't if your beliefs are regarding politics, business, law, your educational pursuits, God or the Bible. Your beliefs will determine your expectations.
Successful men and women have attitudes of confident, positive, self-expectancy. This self-expectancy leads to a powerful faith. They expect to be successful. They expect to be liked. They expect to be happy. The interesting thing is, they are very seldom disappointed.
On the other hand, unsuccessful people have an attitude of negative expectancy of cynicism and pessimism that causes situations to work out exactly as they expected. The Law of Expectation will work!
What are your expectations for your Christian life? What are your expectations of God? Are your expectations as a result of your beliefs leading you into faith or fear? What are your perceptions, as a result of your beliefs? Your expectations will create your reality. Whether negative or positive; whether rooted in a benevolent or malevolent world view, the Law of Expectation will work.
Four Sources of Expectations
There are four sources of expectations that'll have an impact on your life. These sources serve as a foundation of our expectations throughout our life. Again, these expectations are determined by the deep beliefs we hold. We develop our beliefs from influences in our life. But, the good news is we can develop new beliefs. These four sources don't have to remain the sources of our expectations for our whole lives. We can develop new expectations from changing our beliefs.
1. We are unconsciously programmed to live up to or down to the expectations of our parents. What did your parents expect of you growing up? Were you encouraged to succeed? Or were you reminded how impossible something was, or how something good couldn't happen? Were your parents' expectations those of a victim or someone who was confident? Those expectations were passed down to you, unless you established new and different beliefs from your parents. What are the expectations of your Heavenly Father for you? What does His Word say about you? What are His expectations for you? You will follow the expectations from your parents, that you hold to.
2. The second source is the expectations that your boss has for your performance. Remember. You will live up or down to the expectations others have of you. The determining factor, is how powerful are the expectations. The power those expectations have over you, will be determined by how much authority that person in your life has been given by you. So, you could have expectations from your boss, but if you respect the expectations and opinions of your parents more highly, then their expectations will have more of an effect on you than those of your boss. But, your boss' expectations of your performance will affect you.
I remember in one of my last corporate jobs, my boss reinforced over and over that my skill set was the lowest on the team. So, being told this, in my mind, the expectations of my boss were low. My job performance reflected those expectations. I didn't perform badly. But, I wasn't an outstanding performer as compared to the rest of the team either. I needed additional training. But, that training was never given, as I was told our team was too busy. Needless to say, that lack of additional training led to my position being eliminated. So, expectations of your boss, can and will affect your career.
3. The third source is the expectations you have of your children, your spouse and your employees and staff. The more important you are in the life of someone else, the more powerfully your expectations will affect their performance. Are your expectations filled with faith and possibilities or are your expectations filled with negativity, limitations, cynicism and pessimism? People live up to the expectations we have of them. So, again, it's extremely important to determine our deeply held beliefs and perceptions. Is our world view one of benevolence or malevolence? These factors will affect the performance of those in our life.
4. The fourth source of expectations, are the expectations you have of yourself. This is extremely important. Your expectations of yourself will be the result of several factors. They could be the result of your parents' expectations of you. Or it could be the expectations of your teachers. Or it could be the result of the expectations of others who are important in your life. These will affect your self-image. Your self-image acts as a thermostat. As the temperature in a room will not go higher or lower than the thermostat settings, you will rise no higher or go lower than your self-image allows. Your self-image is directly affected by the expectations of other important people in your life.
Then your self-image will directly affect the high or low expectations you have of yourself. These expectations will lead you into the roots of fear or into faith. Your expectations of yourself are powerful enough to override any expectations that other may have of you.
You can never rise any higher than your expectations of yourself. Being your expectations are totally under your control, be sure that your expectations are consistent with what you want to see happen. Even more importantly, be sure that your expectations are not lower than God's expectations of you. Your expectations will determine whether you walk in fear or faith. Let God lead you from fear to faith.
1. We are unconsciously programmed to live up to or down to the expectations of our parents. What did your parents expect of you growing up? Were you encouraged to succeed? Or were you reminded how impossible something was, or how something good couldn't happen? Were your parents' expectations those of a victim or someone who was confident? Those expectations were passed down to you, unless you established new and different beliefs from your parents. What are the expectations of your Heavenly Father for you? What does His Word say about you? What are His expectations for you? You will follow the expectations from your parents, that you hold to.
2. The second source is the expectations that your boss has for your performance. Remember. You will live up or down to the expectations others have of you. The determining factor, is how powerful are the expectations. The power those expectations have over you, will be determined by how much authority that person in your life has been given by you. So, you could have expectations from your boss, but if you respect the expectations and opinions of your parents more highly, then their expectations will have more of an effect on you than those of your boss. But, your boss' expectations of your performance will affect you.
I remember in one of my last corporate jobs, my boss reinforced over and over that my skill set was the lowest on the team. So, being told this, in my mind, the expectations of my boss were low. My job performance reflected those expectations. I didn't perform badly. But, I wasn't an outstanding performer as compared to the rest of the team either. I needed additional training. But, that training was never given, as I was told our team was too busy. Needless to say, that lack of additional training led to my position being eliminated. So, expectations of your boss, can and will affect your career.
3. The third source is the expectations you have of your children, your spouse and your employees and staff. The more important you are in the life of someone else, the more powerfully your expectations will affect their performance. Are your expectations filled with faith and possibilities or are your expectations filled with negativity, limitations, cynicism and pessimism? People live up to the expectations we have of them. So, again, it's extremely important to determine our deeply held beliefs and perceptions. Is our world view one of benevolence or malevolence? These factors will affect the performance of those in our life.
4. The fourth source of expectations, are the expectations you have of yourself. This is extremely important. Your expectations of yourself will be the result of several factors. They could be the result of your parents' expectations of you. Or it could be the expectations of your teachers. Or it could be the result of the expectations of others who are important in your life. These will affect your self-image. Your self-image acts as a thermostat. As the temperature in a room will not go higher or lower than the thermostat settings, you will rise no higher or go lower than your self-image allows. Your self-image is directly affected by the expectations of other important people in your life.
Then your self-image will directly affect the high or low expectations you have of yourself. These expectations will lead you into the roots of fear or into faith. Your expectations of yourself are powerful enough to override any expectations that other may have of you.
You can never rise any higher than your expectations of yourself. Being your expectations are totally under your control, be sure that your expectations are consistent with what you want to see happen. Even more importantly, be sure that your expectations are not lower than God's expectations of you. Your expectations will determine whether you walk in fear or faith. Let God lead you from fear to faith.
