God promises to bless His followers, right? That's part of being a child of God - receiving His love and His grace, but also His blessings and His protection. If I believe that to be true, then it becomes very easy for me to expect that I'll never have hardships, nothing will ever go wrong, and God will keep bad things from happening to me. But that's not the reality, is it? What happens to my faith when I experience difficulties I never expected? And how do I continue to trust in God when I'm battling through negative circumstances?
Many of us have an ideal picture in mind of how a certain aspect of our lives will turn out. We have a vision of what our marriage will be like, how much we'll enjoy our career, or how healthy our relationships will be. What happens when my picture-perfect expectation doesn't match my reality? How do I deal with it when my plans fall short? Can I adopt a realistic, yet still great, expectation?
