Expectations: Are You Swimming or Sinking?
Jonah1:1 – 4:7
OPENER:
Get a roll of toilet paper (individual is better) that is pre-wrapped. Carefully undo the wrapping and tape a $10 bill inside the roll and close the packaging.
Tell teens that inside the paper bag is:
Something that is very useful to a person
Many people find it difficult to live without it
We throw it away daily
As teen opens bag and is surprised or disappointed, wait to see what they do with the roll then say:
If you forget anything said tonight, remember this:
Your expectations shape your view of what is real around you
Often we do not look deeper to see the real expectation that God has for us
Illustration --------- YOU CALL THIS A GAS STATION!
One day a lady pulled into a self serve gas station to fill up her car.
She got out of her car, hurried over to the pump, lifted the nozzle to her gas tank, and tried to pump the gas.
Nothing happened.
Belatedly she realized that this was one of those gas stations where you had to prepay.
Frustrated and in a hurry, she ran inside, paid the cashier, and returned to her car to resume pumping her gas.
She squeezed the handle, but still nothing happened. “What kind of lousy gas station is this?” she mumbled angrily to herself.
After trying again with no better results, she ran back in to the cashier and started giving him a piece of her mind.
With a concerned look on his face, the cashier talked right over the top of the lady’s scolding.
“Ma’am, please stay right here. Don’t go back to your car. I just called 911.
When you were leaving the building after paying me, I saw a man get into the back seat of your car.
It looked to me like he didn’t belong there. The only way I could get you to come back inside was to turn off your gas pump.”
Just then the police pulled up and took into custody the man who was hiding in the woman’s car.
The woman learned later that he was trying to get initiated into a very dangerous gang.
Armed with a knife, he had planned to kill her and steal her car once they left the gas station.
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Consider This…
Sometimes we feel resentful and frustrated about a disappointment, a failure, a loss, or a serious setback of some kind—like the woman at the gas station.
We don’t like it when life doesn’t go as smoothly as we’d like.
At those moments consider that God may be trying to get our attention, to slow us down so that we can hear his voice.
Sometimes our EXPECTATION of something is due to our frantic pace, we don’t notice sin creeping into the back seat of our lives, putting us at great risk.
Thank God that he’s always on the lookout for us, and that at times he uses setbacks to rescue us from danger.
HIGH EXPECTIONS: They bring growth and learning.
Whether you win or lose, succeed or fail, you’ll lea a lot from big challenges.
LOW EXPECTIONS: We won’t see growth or learn much more.
No risk equals no growth. We want to ride the safe rides—not the roller coasters…
DVD Segment Option: Parenthood
The Buckmans have all the trappings of a large family, including estranged relatives, overachievers, black sheep, divorced and single parents, eccentrics, and rebellious teenagers. Gil (Steve Martin) is at the center of it all: the conservative son, brother, and father; trying to please everyone at once and turn conflict into peace while searching for his own identity and purpose in life.
"I love you. " START> 1:49:45 (“I love you”)
STOP>1:56:40 (Gil hugs his wife)
When Grandma (Helen Shaw) talks no one listens, because most of the family assumes she’s senile.
She actually has a lot to say, and in this scene, she describes the difference between two attractions at an amusement park: the merry go round and the roller coaster.
She explains that a lot of people choose the ease of the merry go round since there isn’t any challenge involved in riding it.
She, on the other hand, would choose the roller coaster because the ups and downs are much more exciting than just going around.
Gil misses the point, hearing the words but not the wisdom that most people choose the safe, easy route, but the few risk takers who welcome the ups and downs of life get the most out of living.
Which ride best resembles your life, the merry go round or the roller coaster?
HIGH EXPECTIONS: They help us find our destinies.
The student must first open his book, to discover he can learn.
The new Christian must first try trusting in God to discover His abounding love.
The runner must run that first lap to discover the passion.
LOW EXPECTIONS: We may miss our destinies.
We may miss out on God’s best for us. A man named Jonah tried to…
Jonah – The Art of Running From God’s Expectations
Often we try to outrun Gods’ purpose for us.
His love and ultimate purpose for us will catch up with us eventually.
When running from God -- everyone around you can see something isn’t right
READ Jonah 1:10
Jonah realized God’s EXPECTATION and knew what had to be done -- READ 1:12
God will deliver you to fulfill his EXPECTATION through you -- READ 1:17
Many times, we must go through dark times in our lives to realize just how much we yearn for the light again -- READ 2:6-7
Sometimes parents, teachers, youth pastors, or others ask us to do big things sometimes beyond what we think we can do. These are the times we must at least give God a chance to help us meet those high expectations.
READ Jonah 3:1-3
God’s EXPECTATION of you is always never more than you can handle—in fact, it’s usually easier than we EXPECTED.--READ 3:4
High EXPECTATIONS are meant for HIGH ACHIEVERS which brings HIGH RESULTS. READ 3:5-7
God’s EXPECTATIONS are given with an open hand instead of a closed fist—He always gives us a way out -- READ 3:10
SOMETIMES WE ARE THE VICTIMS OF OUR OWN EXPECTATIONS
Jonah’s expectations were too high because people didn’t respond to him in his own town the way the Ninevites did.
He became depressed, angry and suicidal because God didn’t meet his EXPECTATIONS. -- READ 4:1-3
God allows us to be angry at Him—and He even takes care of us while we are fuming at Him -- READ 4:4-6.
But while God is comforting us while we are angry at Him, He doesn’t want us to become comfortable wallowing in our self-pity. So He keeps us moving.
READ 4:7-11
He wants us to soar higher instead of sink deeper.
Illustration: Fly Like an Eagle
A nature lover was once walking through the countryside when he came upon a farm.
He walked up to the fence and looked into the barnyard.
He saw lots of chickens and geese and other farm animals wandering and scratching about
Then he noticed one bird that didn’t fit.
He looked more closely and, oddly enough, saw that it was a young eagle, the king of all birds.
So the nature lover climbed the fence, walked into the barnyard, found the farmer, and said, “Sir, I am a nature lover. Do you realize what kind of bird you have here?”
The farmer answered, “Why, yes I do. That’s an eagle.”
The nature lover replied, “But ...but why is this eagle, the king of all birds, scratching around on the ground with chickens, eating and acting like a chicken? Why?”
The farmer said, “When this bird was very young, its mother abandoned it and it grew up in the barnyard, and I just treated it like a chicken. That eagle thinks it’s a chicken.”
“Well, that’s terrible!” the nature lover said. “This is an eagle, the king of all birds. It should be soaring, not groveling about on the ground with these chickens!
Do you mind, sir, if I take this young eagle and try to convince him of his destiny?”
“Sure,” said the farmer. “I don’t care what you do with him. He doesn’t lay eggs, so he’s not helping me any here.”
So the nature lover grabbed the young eagle, walked into the center of the barnyard, held him up against the sky, and said to the bird, “You are an eagle, the king of all birds. Stretch forth your wings and fly!”
And at that moment, he threw the young bird up into the sky. The bird went up ...then he came back down and immediately started flopping and fluttering around on the ground, eating and acting like a chicken.
The farmer, who was watching, said, “I told you! That eagle thinks he’s a chicken!”
The nature lover, undaunted, asked permission to take the young eagle up to the top of the barn. “OK,” said the farmer. “Do what you want.”
So up to the top of the barn the nature lover climbed with the confused bird under his arm.
Once they had reached the very rooftop, the nature lover held up the bird against the wind and said again, “You are an eagle, the king of all birds. Stretch forth your wings and fly!”
With that he threw the young bird up into the sky. The bird flopped and fluttered and landed in the barnyard and began eating and acting like a chicken.
The farmer grinned and said, “I told you! He thinks he’s a chicken!”
Undaunted, the nature lover grabbed the young eagle, strode out of the barnyard, walked across a field, and climbed a hill.
He climbed to the very top of the tallest peak. There, he stood atop a boulder, holding the young bird against the wind, and said once more, “You ...you are an eagle, the king of all birds. Stretch forth your wings and fly!”
With that he threw the young bird into the sky. The young eagle stretched forth his wings once ...twice...and suddenly, he was flying!
He was flying in the autumn sky, becoming all God had created him to be.
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We often mistake God’s high expectations for us like the eagle did atop the barn.
And many times we still scratch around because it’s comfortable, while the devil laughs at us thinking we’re just like chickens.
God never gives up on us, He will take you to a place in your life where it seems so uncomfortable, unfamiliar, just so you will spread your wings and be the person that you are intended to be.
His expectations often seem like a roller coaster…scary…but it’s much more fun than the Merry-Go-Round…at least you’re not going in circles.
God’s really only expects two things from us…Mark chapter 12 verses 30-31 says to love God with all your heart, mind and soul---and then love others as you would yourself.
Have you been carrying around the burden of expectations that were not meant for you?
Expectations from others—trying to please them and failed? What expectation have you been holding that is tiring you out?
END WITH STORY: Illustration -- The Glass Of Water
A teacher was explaining stress management to his group of science students
He raised a glass of water and asked “How heavy is this glass of water?”
Students answers ranged from 20 grams to 500 grams.
The teacher replied “the absolute weight doesn’t matter—it depends on how long you try to hold it.”
“If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem.
“If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my right arm”.
“If I hold it for a day, you’ll have to call an ambulance.”
“In each case, it’s all the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”
He continued by saying “And that’s the way it is with expectations
As they become increasingly heavy, we won’t be able to carry on
As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for awhile and rest before holding it again.
Then we’re refreshed, we can carry on with the expectation.
So, before you return home tonight, put the burden or expectation down.
Don’t carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow if you like.
Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest…learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in hear, and you will find rest for your souls.
