Skip to main content

What do you Expect?



            Steve Blass played major league baseball for 10 years as a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  In 1971 he won the World Series and in 1972 he was one of the league’s best players and was named a National League All-star.  Then, in 1973, everything fell apart.
            Suddenly Steve Blass could not control his pitches.  No matter what he tried, his game went straight downhill.  Within 2 years, he was out of baseball and the phrase "Steve Blass disease" was coined.  Blass explained, “When it was gone, it was gone for good. I started thinking about all the things that could go wrong and suddenly they did”.
            There is an old saying, “Whether you believe you can or you believe that you can’t, you are right either way” and that certainly was true of Steve Blass.  He stopped believing that he could be a major league pitcher and, before he knew it, he was not one. 
            Though it is not a “hard and fast rule”, we often get what we expect to get.   If you expect your kids to be bad, they will act in ways that drive you crazy. Expect to have a bad day and you will find lots to complain about.  Expect that people are out to get you and you will discover things that seem to confirm that belief. 
            On the other hand, if you expect to enjoy a certain activity, you likely will.  If you think that you are going to like your new neighbours, they probably will seem really nice.  If you expect a new experience to be an adventure instead of a problem, it will change the way you go through it.
            In Hebrews 5:11-6:4, the writer tells his readers that they have to change their thinking and their expectations.  They been “slow to learn” the lessons of God (5:11).  In fact, he says that they need to “leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity” (6:1). In other words, they were the limiting factor in their faith.  God was ready to great things in them and through them, but it was not happening because they did not believe that it could happen. 
            The same holds true for us.  What we believe will shape what we receive.  The fact is that God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).
            So, what are you getting? 
            Well, what do you expect?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Noticing.... Seeing what we need to see and what we miss when we don't

 What we focus on in life matters. Here are some scriptural reminders that will help us see correctly.  https://youtu.be/Rn76tV0ZH8s    
Post a Comment
Read more

New Article: A Path Worth Following

  Jehoram was a terrible king.  He reigned in Judah around the year 850 B.C. and he did not care about God or his people.  His first act as king was to assassinate his six brothers so that no one could challenge his authority.  He was brutal and selfish.   Therefore, when the Bible sums up his life, it says, “Jehoram… passed away, to no one’s regret, and was buried in the City of David” (2 Chronicles 21:20).  Did you catch that?  “To no one’s regret!”  What a terrible phrase for your tombstone. On the other hand, consider a lady named Tabitha.  She lived in the city of Joppa in the first century A.D. and we are told, “… she was always doing good and helping the poor” (Acts 9:36).  She became sick and died.  This caused the community so much grief that they called Peter, who was in the nearby town of Lydda, to come and help them.  When Peter arrived, a crowd gathered, bringing all the robes and other clothing that ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This.... Which Way Are You Leaning?

   When Ben Patterson agreed to join three friends climbing Mount Lyell, the highest point in Yosemite National Park, he did not realize what he was signing up for.  Early in the day, it became clear that he was completely unprepared for the task.  In an effort to keep up with his more experienced friends, Ben took a shortcut.  It did not occur to him that there might be a reason the others had not selected this route, but he soon found out why.  Ben became stuck on the glacier.  He could not move up, down or sideways and one wrong move would send him sliding down a forty-five-degree slope to the valley floor miles below.   That is when one of his friends came to the rescue. His buddy leaned over the edge and carved some footholds in the ice.  He told Ben to step to the first foothold and immediately swing his other foot to the second, then his buddy would pull him to safety.  Lastly, his friend gave him one more piece of advice....
Post a Comment
Read more