Great Expectations...& The Great Opinionated

"Surely there is a future,

And your hope will not be cut off."

Proverbs 23:18

So...last month, I got engaged.

It was the most romantic and loving and surprising engagement to one of the greatest men GOD himself created. I was shocked, then very much so excited and feeling all the feels–the lovey dovey feels.

Not long after getting home, me and my now-fiancé started dreaming about what we wanted for our wedding, what we wanted for our future, and dreaming all kinds of other stuff newly engaged couples normally dream about.

I remember before going to sleep that night, we recorded a video about what it meant for us to be in this new season. After sharing a little bit of our story, the days leading up to that night and how I felt about our near future, I said, "We have no idea, we're winging this whole thing...There are so many different avenues that could change and look completely different next year. And we don't know what that looks like. So in a way, I'm scared, but I know I have someone that I can experience that with. But also if I'm honest, I'm more excited than I am scared to see how GOD pulls through."

A little anxious, but still over the moon with great hope and great faith that GOD's faithful hand hadn't failed us and would not fail us now–Great Expectations.

But less than three days later, I wasn't so excited anymore. I was still anxious, but this time way more than I was before, and while I was definitely feeling all the feels, those feels weren't the lovely dovey feels.

In that three day period, we'd started to share our good and exciting news with our close circle, then family, then friends, then co-workers, and then social media for the people we knew, but maybe forgot to tell (on purpose, I should say!). And it seemed the more people we told, the less hope I was feeling, the less happy I was feeling, the less trusting I was feeling, the less expecting I was feeling.

Between a night of pure bliss and hope to now a space of anxiety and hopelessness.

What happened?

The Great Opinionated happened, friend. The WHAT?!

The Great Opinionated–these are the people that chime in about the matters of your life who give their unsolicited, uncalled for, unnecessary, unapproved, underdeveloped, unacceptable, unhealthy, unprofessional, unrighteous and opinionated advice!

They got a whole lot to say about what you're doing and what you're not doing; The Great Opinionated.

And if you're not careful, friend, you'll end up like me–allowing the Great Opinionated to rule and reign over the Great Expectations you once had for your life and for yourself.

If you're not careful, you'll allow the Great Opinionated to have say over the Great Expectations GOD birthed inside of you–the purpose and destiny that He specifically gave to you.

If you're not careful, friend, you'll give permission to the Great Opinionated–making way for them to kill the Great Expectations you once had of your GOD.

Now, before we get to the how not to allow the Great Opinionated to kill your Great Expectations, I must assure you that even Jesus dealt with the Great Opinionated.

Let's take a look at Mark 3:20-30:

By the time we get to Mark 30, Jesus is already full throttle into ministry–He's healing the sick, preaching, and also "breaking the law"–going against the custom and religious code of the time. He was a rule breaker and was not afraid to call out the elders and leaders of His time for upholding religious laws that were no longer serving the people, but in fact hindering their growth and their connection to their Father–GOD.

He's healing people on the Sabbath and performing miraculous work. And as expected, word spreads about this man from Nazareth who is radical and revolutionary; He's making decisions outside of what was expected of Him–conducting ministry outside of what was expected of ministry–calling Himself the Son of GOD.

"How arrogant," religious leaders thought of Jesus at the time. Even Jesus' own family called Him "out of His mind" (v. 21). For bringing in and attracting massive crowds of people, teachers of the religious law claimed that Jesus was demon possessed.

But despite the backlash and disdain, Jesus continued His mission. Despite the naysayers and the haters, Jesus continued "breaking the law"–even going a step further to speak out against the law and its teachers (Mark 3: 1-5, 23-29).

Now, let's not get it twisted: Just like you and me, Jesus was human! He had very human feelings; He felt pain, He felt despair, He was tempted, He felt like giving up at times, He was hurt and betrayed by the ones closest to Him.

But that didn't stop Him.

I can imagine that Jesus was hurt by those religious law teachers and His own kinfolk–saying that He was out of His mind and calling Him demon-possessed.

Wouldn't you be?

People you love, people you trust, people you call family, people seen at elders and mentors and teachers–curse your gifting, curse your purpose, curse the call on your life and claim you're being arrogant or that your gifting is from the devil.

They cursed Jesus–the Son of GOD, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Savior of the World, the very man that would get up on a cross 13 chapters later and die for those very same religious law teachers who cursed Him.

They cursed Jesus; the Great Opinionated cursed their Savior.

So what makes us think the Great Opinionated wouldn't curse us?

Who are we to think ourselves worthy of such exemption if a man who walked this earth blameless was too cursed?

If they cursed Jesus while He was doing good and fulfilling His purpose–for going against their expectations of Him, they will curse you for doing the same (1 Peter 2:21).

If they cursed Him for going outside of the parameters of their comfort, they will curse you, too, for going against their comfort of your elevation.

See, some people don't want to see you doing better than them; the Great Opinionated want to be attached to your life, they want attachment to your development, and they may not mind seeing you elevate...just don't elevate higher than them.

That's what was happening to Jesus. This young man–this Nazarene born in a manger–in a box–was ministering better than the elder ministers of the doctrine who taught Him.

They didn't want to see Him elevate higher than tehm, so they thought if they called Jesus demon possessed, they could cancel Him...

But here's the thing, friend:

The Great Opinionated may curse you and they may even try to cancel you, but they can NEVER cancel the call on your life. No one can cancel GOD and the call on your life is GOD-ordained.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you. Plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

GOD has plans for you, friend, and NO ONE can cancel or curse that.

So here's what you have to do to protect your Great Expectations from the Great Opinionated:

KEEP EXPECTING.

Really? We waited all this time for you to tell us that simple phrase, "Keep Expecting?"

Yep!

Here's why, friend: the more you keep expecting from GOD in the face of the Great Opinionated, the more you activate your faith. Faith without works is dead (James 2:17), so that means you have to keep activating it–keep expecting GOD's faithfulness, keep expecting Him to fulfill the promises He made to you, keep waiting on Him to finish the good work that He has already started in you.

Keep expecting–greatly.

Why?

Because He is faithful, friend. And not only is He faithful, but He's able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us (Ephesians 3:20).

As we're entering a new year, whatever you're expecting from GOD, know that He's able to not only bring it into fruition, but He's capable of exceeding those expectations.

It's hard; I would know–especially with people wanting to give their advice every 10 seconds about what they did for their wedding, how much they spent, what they would do, what they wouldn't do...I even had someone give their opinion on who I am marrying (because that's their business!).

The Great Opinionated will talk; let them!

But as you enter 2021, you hold tight to not only your Great Dreams and your Great Purpose and your Great Expectations; hold on tight to your Great GOD.

Praying for you & believing GOD to exceed your Great Expectations,

Nic.