When our children were small, we made a trip to Disney World. We were all excited about visiting such a wonderful place and anxious to see everything we possibly could.

One day while we were waiting on one of the trams, we met a family with a little boy. His mom called him Mr. Mischief. The child could not be still. He wanted to hurry to do everything. He was impatient waiting for the tram, and he was into everything.

His mother told me that “Mr. Mischief” was so named because he was always getting into trouble. She told me this in front of him, while she was constantly stopping our conversation to correct him.

It occurred to me as we talked, that this child was responding to his mother’s expectations of him. She expected him to always be difficult, and so he was. She expected him to constantly get into trouble, so he did.

I wonder how different our lives would be if our expectations were different. Would it change the way we treat others? Would it change the way we look at our own lives? Would it change the way others respond to us?

I think we tend to go from day to day, expecting the worst in people. We expect someone to hurt our feelings. We expect someone will cheat us. We expect that our friends will let us down. Some people expect their spouse to be unfaithful. Parents expect their children to do things they shouldn’t.

I believe Jesus gave the benefit of the doubt to those He met during His ministry on earth. Let’s look at some of His encounters and see.

When Nicodemus came to Jesus, he came at night. After all, he was a Pharisee; and the other Pharisees might not have understood why he was paying a visit to Jesus.

When he approached Jesus, our Lord didn’t expect Nicodemus to be there with ulterior motives. He had a conversation with him about being born again. Later, Nicodemus defended him at a meeting of the Sanhedrin (John 7:50) and even helped Joseph of Arimethea to bury Jesus (John 19:39).

From their conversation, Jesus obviously talked with Nicodemus as though there was a chance he would do the right thing.

When Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, He knew that Lazarus was dead. Mary and Martha couldn’t understand why Jesus had delayed and why He had not arrived in time to heal Lazarus. Their expectation was not unnatural. After all, they had probably seen the Lord heal others or maybe raise someone from the dead. They expected Jesus to come immediately.

Of course, we know that when Jesus arrived, He went to Lazarus’ tomb. There He called Lazarus to come forth, and Lazarus did. Mary and Martha received what they expected, just not when they expected it.

Jesus knew He was fighting an uphill battle during His three-year ministry. People expected Him to defeat the Romans in battle and restore the Jewish nation. They expected Him to reign as an early king, but He reigned then and now as the heavenly king. They expected Jesus to set up an earthly kingdom, but He set up a spiritual kingdom, the church.

What do we expect? Let’s look at a few things some might expect:

• Do we expect God to reward us for our good deeds when our hearts are evil?
• Do we expect God to let us believe whatever we want and still have a place in His kingdom?
• Do we expect to go to heaven without taking anyone with us?
• Do we expect to never attend worship and God take us to the home He has prepared where we will worship Him forever?
• Do we expect to keep making more and more money and never give any of it back to God?

What does God expect? He expects obedience, just like He expected of the Jews on Pentecost in Acts 2. He expects the same thing He expected from the Eunuch in Acts 8, Saul in Acts 9, Cornelius in Acts 10, and all the others that responded to His Word throughout the book of Acts.

Simply stated, God expects our obedience to His commands, just as He expected obedience from His people in the Old Testament. We need to do as Paul told Timothy in II Timothy 2:15, “Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth” (ASV).

We need an open mind and a heart willing to accept the Word of God. Then we need to obey what the Lord commands.

Sandra Oliver