Expectations of Others
Our expectations of others are one of the more common sources of our pain and disappointment. I mean face it, people let us down all the time. And what does this say to our hearts? That we can’t trust people? That “if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself?” That we’re not respected? That we’re not worth someone else’s time? That we’re alone? That we’re not loved?
This kind of disappointment can hurt deeply, and it can cause us to isolate ourselves, putting up emotional walls between us and those around us to protect us from further pain. When people don’t come through for us, be it a parent, or a coworker, or a spouse, or whomever, we hear this message in our hearts that we have to go it alone—that we’re the only one who cares, the only one who’s trying to keep things together, the only one we can trust.
This is not how God intended things. What in all creation did God say was NOT good? That man should be alone!
When Satan can lead us to think that we can’t trust anyone but ourselves, we project that belief on God and decide in our hearts that we can’t trust Him either. Suddenly, we find ourselves trying so hard to keep things together, but they only keep falling apart.
No matter how hard we try to walk this road on our own, we simply cannot do it without other people, and certainly not without God. But this means that we have to have healthy expectations again. And that means we might get hurt.