Expectations for God

[dauer]

Quahom suggested this question might be for all, and so I am creating a new thread and re-posting it. Please ignore those aspects of the post that do not apply to you, or feel free to comment on them, or to redefine them so that they can apply to you.

"It is one thing to expect religion to help you grow closer to God, however S/He/It is defined, to gain a greater sense of spirituality. It is another thing to expect God to become your servant and fetch you your paper every morning, your waiting coffee nice and hot in the kitchen. What is it that you expect from God and why?

Is there a way that you, as a person wary about investing in religion right now, already have ideas about the nature of God, how He functions, and the relationship between God and man, what the "deal" should be?

What qualifies as an answer from God to you and what doesn't?"

Dauer

[path_of_one]

I thought this was an excellent post in the other thread. I suppose it depends on how you perceive God, and what kind of relationship you are expecting. Personally, I believe that a non-answer from God is an answer. So far there are certain questions to which I have not received an answer, and I accept that I may never be meant to know in this lifetime. Sometimes I have to be very very patient before I get an answer. There have been certain questions I have prayed and meditated about for months and even years before suddenly receiving an answer. Other times, God seems to want to communicate things to me I wasn't even thinking about or aware of, and it requires my diligence in being open and quiet enough to listen to things that are unexpected. Sometimes God uses people or situations that are unsavory or difficult, sometimes I receive communication through the small voice that is within when I quiet my mind and life enough to hear it, and very rarely I get a vision that is very clearly from God.

Bottom line, it's up to me to throw my expectations of God out the window and then wait patiently and quietly for the Divine to draw near to me and reveal wisdom and love in a myriad of ways. The instant I expect something from God, I have turned my back on the inexpressible enormity of God and have put God in a box that fits with what I want, rather than trying to detach from my desires in a search for truth.

Nobody's perfect, and I've done it time and again. Expecting material things from God (take away my pain/illness/monetary problems/etc.). Expecting non-material things from God (heaven/wisdom/etc.). Expecting God's voice to be a certain way. But I have also found, time and again, that it is when I still all expectations that I grow the most spiritually, because I am then open to what God will give me, rather than shutting my eyes against anything that doesn't fit with my expectations.

It is choosing to worship and praise God, to try to live a good life, to pray and meditate and study just because God is worthy of that. No expectations. No deals of getting into heaven if... Just a recognition that God is worthy of our spiritual and ethical work, no matter what. After all, we already got life and this earth out of the deal, and that seems an amazing and wondrous gift.

[lunamoth]

Originally Posted by path_of_one

It is choosing to worship and praise God, to try to live a good life, to pray and meditate and study just because God is worthy of that. No expectations. No deals of getting into heaven if... Just a recognition that God is worthy of our spiritual and ethical work, no matter what. After all, we already got life and this earth out of the deal, and that seems an amazing and wondrous gift.

Well said, path-of-one.

I feel like God speaks to me in a similar manner as you describe. Actually for some reason I always associate these insights with the Holy Spirit, and also they come in unexpected forms and at unexpected times. But sometimes I feel like I get a special clarity about issues I've been praying over. Sometimes the Spirit shows up so quickly and pointedly I would begin to doubt my sanity if I dwelt on it very long. it seems an appropriate thing, to me anyway, to pray for wisdom, strength, peace, guidance, comfort, rather than outcomes. I think those outcomes depend heavily on what we do, but we need that assistance to carry out what we know to be right.

peace,
lunamoth

[Bandit]

i dont really have to much expectations. i do, but not like i demand things. i have learned He moves when He knows it is best for us & He will do it in His time.


Dont forget, we can ask amiss (wrong) or for the wrong things.
Eternal life & peace in the spirit is not a bad thing at all...even when the chips are down & pain is more than we can bare, God is right there bringing peace.

when i was about 8 years old, someone stole my very first bike & I blamed God & shook my fist at Him demanding a new bike. i told him if he did not give me one, to strike me dead. LOL

nope that is not the right way.

[ISFP]

i agree with path_of_one-

i don't expect God to take away obstacles or give me material things. i've seen alot of people with that view of Him become hurt and distance themselves from religion when things become difficult and stay that way. i figure it's up to me to keep swimming- it's up to God to show me the good things along the way and give me strength.

[Faithfulservant]

Originally Posted by dauer

What is it that you expect from God and why?


What qualifies as an answer from God to you and what doesn't?"

Dauer

I guess I expect (not demand) that Gods promises are fulfilled. Gods promises are yes and in them amen ... and His ways are perfect so I have to assume that His plans for me are perfect if I align my will to His. I expect that He be my Father in heaven.. and with that comes discipline and of course Love. I expect that He forgive me and understand when I err.

God always answers my prayers.. even if its not answered I realize later and even up to years later why I didnt get what I wanted or needed but He still answers them by giving me an understanding of why. The key for hearing Him is prayer and reading his Word.. the more I do those things the more I "hear" Him. Our souls are holding their breaths and when we pray we breathe a little...the more we pray the more life sustaining it is..

[Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine]

Originally posted by Faithfulservant
God always answers my prayers.. even if its not answered I realize later and even up to years later why I didnt get what I wanted or needed but He still answers them by giving me an understanding of why.

Yes, and sometimes the answer is "No."

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine

[dauer]

Originally Posted by dauer

What is it that you expect from God and why?

I don't expect much from God. I expect that God's going to give me what I need at any given moment and it will be my place to do with it as I will. But I also expect I'll get things I don't need and it will be my place to recognize them as well. Other times I don't believe that God does anything actively ever and so I don't expect it.

Is there a way that you... already have ideas about the nature of God, how He functions, and the relationship between God and man, what the "deal" should be?

I have a lot of ideas about how God functions but I try not to limit myself to any particular one of them. I guess I do tend to form ideas about the relationship between God and man based on experientialism. Whenever I "feel" like I'm getting closer to God, this convinces me that I actually am. I try to avoid such concrete beliefs, even if they are based in my own experiences of the world. So I try to find ways to introduce doubt into my mind of all things that are not universally confirmable, even if I willingly explore these "feelings" and try to connect more deeply with them in every moment.

What qualifies as an answer from God to you and what doesn't?"

A True answer from God is an answer that I hear and also the rest of the world hears, so that there are no believers anymore.


But I'm willing to settle for table scraps. There are many subjectively confirmable answers from God, but they all rely on the individual's perspective of the situation.

[I, Brian]

"What is it that you expect from God?"

It seems the question is probably better reversed for those of faith - "What is it that God expects from you?"

Or, in the manner of JFK:

"Ask not what God can do for you, but what you can do for God".

[Bandit]

Originally Posted by I, Brian

"What is it that you expect from God?"

It seems the question is probably better reversed for those of faith - "What is it that God expects from you?"

Or, in the manner of JFK:

"Ask not what God can do for you, but what you can do for God".

yep. it works just like that too
What would God have me to do?

He hath shown thee oh man what is good. and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy & to walk humbly with they God.

[miclason]

Phylis,
my grandmother used to say exactly that! "God answers every prayer, it's just that sometimes the answer is No"...Also, sometimes we pray and, although we say "Thy will be done", we really mean "MY will be done",and it is hard to accept that...
I have always had a strong personal relation with God, and, through the trials of my life, I have finally come to see that I have to learn to accept those things that He wants to give me, and be glad for them, even if they are not exactly what I wanted for myself!
I didn't want to lose my job, for example, but, I did, and I found a new one two months after -I had just enough money for those 2 months!- this job doesn't pay as much (as the old one), but, I am learning a lot of (extremely) valuable skills and, my level of satisfaction has increased exponentially (I was getting stress-induced migraines at the other place!...I even had an episode that was so bad, I had to go the hospital!), I like my job, I like (most of) my co-workers and, I even have more time to spend with my daughter!...
On a side-note...while I was unemployed, one day my daughter said to me: "Mom, you can stop worrying about finding a job now. I asked Jesus to give you a job, and He's going to do it". (she had just turned 4!)