Apr 2, 2025 10 min read Devo by Stevo

Expectations vs. Reality (Devo by Stevo)

Part Two of "The Road to Jerusalem"

Luke writes in chapter 9:43-45

"And they were all amazed at the greatness of God. While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, 'Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.' But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it." (Luke 9:43-45)

Day 1: Challenging Our Deepest Assumptions

Scripture: Mark 8:31-33 "He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. 'Get behind me, Satan!' he said. 'You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.'"

From the Message: "Jesus' disciples saw him as their Titanic—the unsinkable Messiah who would conquer Rome, restore Israel to its glory, and bring about the destruction of all who opposed God's rule. When Jesus revealed a drastic plot twist, they were unable to process it. They couldn't understand or comprehend this reality."

Reflection:
Like the passengers of the Titanic who couldn't imagine their "unsinkable" ship going down, the disciples had built their expectations of Jesus on assumptions that seemed unquestionable. When Jesus spoke of suffering and death, it contradicted everything they believed about the Messiah. Their deeply held expectations had become so integrated into their worldview that they simply couldn't process information that challenged these beliefs.

We too have fundamental assumptions about how God works, what faith should look like, and how our Christian journey should unfold. When reality contradicts these expectations, we often struggle to reconcile what we're experiencing with what we've always believed. The first step toward spiritual growth is recognizing that our expectations might not align with God's reality—and being willing to let God reshape our understanding.

Song Lyric: From "Control" by JJ Heller
"Surrender is all that I can do, to breathe in this moment as I give it all to You. I'm letting go of the illusion of control."

Prayer:
Father, help me recognize the expectations I've built that might not align with Your reality. Give me the courage to examine my deepest assumptions about You and Your ways. When Your truth challenges what I've always believed, grant me an open heart to receive Your perspective rather than clinging to my own. Reshape my understanding according to Your truth, not my preferences. Amen.

Day 2: The Upside-Down Kingdom

Scripture: Matthew 16:24-25 "Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.'"

From the Message: "It's one thing to follow when visions of victory dance in your head, but quite another when the promise of new life comes with an expectation of trouble and difficulty, giving up something of great importance, or giving up yourself for something greater."

Reflection:
Jesus consistently presented a kingdom that operated by principles contrary to human intuition. The path to greatness is servanthood. The way to gain life is to lose it. The route to victory passes through surrender. This upside-down kingdom confounded the disciples who expected Jesus to establish His rule through power and conquest. When He spoke of suffering and sacrifice, it seemed like defeat, not triumph.

The challenge remains for us today. We're still tempted to approach faith with expectations of prosperity without suffering, triumph without patience, and control rather than surrender. Following Jesus means embracing paradox—finding strength in weakness, victory in surrender, and life through death. This requires not just intellectual acknowledgment but lived commitment to values that often contradict the dominant messages of our culture.

Song Lyric: From "Upside Down" by Unspoken
"It's the upside-down kingdom where you lose to gain and give away to keep. It's the letting-go road to take a hold of everything you need."

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, Your kingdom operates by principles that often feel counterintuitive to my natural thinking. Forgive me for trying to follow You while still clinging to worldly values and expectations. Help me embrace the beautiful paradoxes of Your kingdom—finding strength in weakness, victory in surrender, and life through death. Transform my thinking so that I can recognize Your upside-down ways as the path to true fulfillment. Amen.

Day 3: Seeing with Spiritual Eyes

Scripture: Luke 18:35-43 "As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, 'Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.' He called out, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!'... Jesus asked him, 'What do you want me to do for you?' 'Lord, I want to see,' he replied. Jesus said to him, 'Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.' Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God."

From the Message: "The irony is striking: the disciples cannot see, while a beggar sees clearly. Those who have much have trouble seeing and understanding what Jesus is trying to tell them... Those who have nothing else more important are able to see clearly."

Reflection:
The story of the blind beggar presents a powerful paradox—those with physical sight (the disciples) were spiritually blind, while the physically blind man recognized Jesus' true identity. The key difference wasn't knowledge or privilege but priority. The beggar had nothing more important than encountering Jesus, while the disciples still clung to their expectations of what the Messiah should be and do.

True spiritual sight comes when we remove the competing priorities that cloud our vision of Jesus. When we hold tightly to our possessions, our preferences, our comfort, or our control, we struggle to see Jesus clearly. Like the rich young ruler, we cannot see the great truth in front of our eyes when we're still holding onto something more important than Jesus. Spiritual clarity comes not from having all the answers but from making Jesus our highest priority.

Song Lyric: From "Clear the Stage" by Jimmy Needham
"Clear the stage and set the sound and lights ablaze, if that's the measure you must take to crush the idols. Anything that steals your gaze and breaks your knees and makes them bow, anything that moves your view, clear the stage."

Prayer:
Lord, like the blind beggar, I want to truly see. Reveal to me the things I'm holding onto that cloud my spiritual vision—possessions, comfort, control, or anything else that competes with You for first place in my heart. Help me to recognize what matters most and to approach You with the simple faith and desperation of the beggar who had nothing to lose. Give me eyes to see You as You truly are, not as I want You to be. Amen.

Day 4: The Mystery of God's Ways

Scripture: Isaiah 55:8-9 "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'"

From the Message: "Clarity vs. Mystery: We want clear and straightforward answers to life's complex questions. If you've read the Bible much, you've probably come to realize the Bible doesn't work this way. It's not just a bullet-point list of truth statements to answer all your questions."

Reflection:
We often approach faith seeking clear-cut answers to our questions and neat solutions to life's challenges. We want God to operate in ways we can fully understand and predict. But Scripture presents us with a God whose ways and thoughts transcend our human understanding—a God who works through vulnerability instead of force, sacrifice instead of power, and patience instead of immediate resolution.

The disciples couldn't grasp Jesus' predictions about His suffering because they wanted clarity where God offered mystery. Similarly, we struggle when God's ways don't fit our expectations or when our prayers aren't answered according to our timeline. Faith requires embracing mystery—not abandoning reason, but recognizing that God's wisdom exceeds our limited perspective. In the tension between our desire for clarity and God's mysterious ways, we learn to trust not in our understanding but in His character.

Song Lyric: From "Thy Will" by Hillary Scott
"I know You see me, I know You hear me, Lord. Your plans are for me, goodness You have in store. I know You hear me, I know You see me, Lord. Your plans are for me, good news You have in store."

Prayer:
God of mystery, forgive me for trying to reduce You to what I can fully understand. Help me embrace the beautiful complexity of Your ways even when they confuse me. When I demand clear answers, remind me that relationship with You involves trust amid uncertainty. Give me courage to follow when I can't see the full picture and faith to believe that Your mysterious ways are higher and better than anything I could design. Help me find peace in Your character when I cannot trace Your hand. Amen.

Day 5: Understanding Through Experience

Scripture: John 16:12-13 "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come."

From the Message: "What's remarkable about these passages is that Jesus didn't give up on the disciples despite their inability to understand. He continued to teach them, knowing eventually—after resurrection—confusing statements would begin to make sense. Some truths can only be grasped through experience, not just intellectual comprehension."

Reflection:
Jesus knew that His disciples couldn't fully comprehend His words about the cross and resurrection until they had lived through these events. Some spiritual truths resist mere intellectual explanation—they must be experienced to be truly understood. The gap between our expectations and God's reality is often bridged not by more information but by lived experience of His faithfulness.

This is why testimony is so powerful in the Christian life. We learn not just through study but through experiencing God's work in our lives and hearing how He has worked in others'. When we face situations that contradict our expectations—suffering despite faithfulness, delay despite earnest prayer, complexity despite our desire for simplicity—we often discover afterward that these experiences deepened our understanding in ways that mere explanation never could. In retrospect, we see that God was faithful not by preventing difficulty but by accompanying us through it.

Song Lyric: From "Trust in You" by Lauren Daigle
"When You don't move the mountains I'm needing You to move, when You don't part the waters I wish I could walk through, when You don't give the answers as I cry out to You, I will trust in You."

Prayer:
Patient Teacher, thank You for understanding that some truths I can only grasp through experience. Thank You for not giving up on me when I struggle to understand Your ways. Help me trust the process of spiritual growth, knowing that today's confusion may become tomorrow's clarity. In seasons of testing and trial, remind me that You are using these experiences to deepen my understanding of You. Give me courage to pray that dangerous prayer: "Lord, show me where my expectations of You don't align with Your reality." Amen.

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