THE CURSE OF EXPECTATIONS

Expectations are formed when we look into the future and think we are going to have or be something. But then that future becomes the present and we do not get what we thought we would, and our expectations are disappointed. We look into the future, we see something in our imagination that is not real, and we set ourselves up for disappointments. We do this all the time and how foolish it is.

If we do not look into the future, but just think and do the best we can in the present, we will always be happy and satisfied. We do not compare "what we get" with "what we thought we would have", and our success rate is 100%. As soon as we form expectations our success rate automatically drops back to at least 50%.

Can we look into the future with any degree of accuracy? I suggest we cannot. Let me picture our life as a person walking on a certain road. If you fly above in a plane, you can see the road with a person on it somewhere. But ahead there are many cross roads and the pilot does not know what choices the person is going to make. These choices have not yet come. We can see the past because the time for past choices has already been. We can rise above the time of the past, but to see the future we must be able to rise above the time of the future, and that we cannot do.

If we cannot look into the future with any accuracy, we are fools to try it. Looking into the future will enmesh us into a web of expectations that we have to deal with later on. The only one who can rise above the time of our future is God. He can see it accurately. By seeing He does not cause it to come about. He does not make our choices. We do.

Newscasters on TV are not satisfied with doing their job, which is bringing news about past events. They talk about what is going to happen, and they waste our time. A good example is the case of the Sovjet Union. For decennia people have been telling us that the Sovjets were going to attack us. But in reality that nation was becoming weaker and weaker. Not only was the prediction wrong, but we were blind to the reality of the situation. News people were in the Sovjet Union, but they did not see it. Even the CIA failed to see it. Predicting the Sovjet future was not only foolish but dangerous. It blinded us to the reality of the present.

Some religionist believe they can predict the future on the basis of Divine revelation. They look at Bible prophecies, and interpret them. They use these interpretations to predict the future. But in actuality they only believe they know how to interpret them. They do not know they are right for sure.

Actually, the Lord does not want us to look into the future and He gives prophecies so we have a general idea what is coming, but we only really understand the prophecies after they have been fulfilled, and we can compare the vague prophecies with the acurate fulfilments. The Lord keeps His prophecies vague so we will not become prejudiced. He wants us to recognize fulfilment when it comes.

Very few people in the Jewish Church understood the prophecies of the first coming. Most misinterpreted the prophecies and did not recognize the Lord when He actually came. The same danger exists today in regard to the second coming. So we counsel against the Dr. Van Impe approach and advocate the investigation of claims that the second coming has taken place.

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