What does God expect from me?
As I shake off 2020 and move into 2021 this is the question that weighs the heaviest on my mind. Not what the world expects, or my family expects, or even the annual making of a resolution to force me into what I want to be. But what, exactly, does God expect me to be or to do?
It’s not as hard as I tend to make it out to be. In fact, God’s expectations can be found entirely in two verses… Deuteronomy 10:12-13.
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?”
I have a tendency to over complicate my faith with man-made rules, regulations and requirements. Trying to mash God’s expectations in with the world’s leaves me frustrated from not being able to keep up with them. I burn myself out from trying too hard to please God when all He really wants is five things…
God wants to be respected, followed, loved, served and obeyed.
In 2021 that’s my goal. To stop piling my expectations on top of God’s. So simple but oh so hard to do, isn’t it?
But here’s the thing. If I concentrate on what God wants instead of what everyone else expects, that’s when I will find real peace.