When George Dantzig’s was a graduate student at UC Berkeley in 1939 something amazing happened. Near the beginning of a class for which Dantzig was late, professor Jerzy Neyman wrote two examples of famously unsolved statistics problems on the blackboard. When Dantzig arrived, he assumed that the two problems were a homework assignment and wrote them down. According to Dantzig, the problems “seemed to be a little harder than usual”, but a few days later he handed in completed solutions for the two problems, still believing that they were an assignment that was overdue. Six weeks later, Dantzig received a visit from an excited professor Neyman, who was eager to tell him that the homework problems he had solved were two of the most famous unsolved problems in statistics.
George would say later that if he would have known they were impossible & were not expected to be solved, he would have never attempted them.
I’m convinced that we get what we expect. Our life’s expectations largely determine what we become.
“So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.” But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.” — 2 Kings 5: 9-12
Naaman was a powerful general in the Syrian army who was hoping that Elisha could heal his leprosy. Naaman came ready to give his horses, chariots, money and his opinion of how to do it but instead the prophet Elisha tells him simply to go wash in a river. In fact, instead of being excited, Naaman became frustrated because he was expecting a harder solution, he was expecting to pay for his healing, and he was expecting the message to be delivered by the King himself.
Are you acting like Naaman today?
I find that I often tell God how something has to be done. I want Him to bless my plans in a particular order, at a certain time, and done in my way. Like Naaman, I’m sure there are times when I’m not hearing what He is saying because of these clouded expectations and as a result I miss out on healing, a business deal, or an opportunity to be used by Him to encourage someone else. He might have a better life waiting if I only burned my expectations and just obeyed His Word. Let God work!
Reflection |
What are your expectations of God in your current situation?