Macam Yesus tapi Bukan

We live our lives based on expectations. Our expectations are shaped not so much by what we wish for, but more on how it matches up to the promise that we perceive it offers.

So if something, say an advertisement of a product, a holiday, our achievements, a relationship, looks promising, then we expect it to be so. And it's the same if it's the flipside. That's the rational way of looking at it.

But lately I've been reflecting on how reality doesn't always coincide with our expectations. Sometimes we get pleasantly surprised, if our expectations had been pretty low. But if we had set our hopes on something that we thought was promising, then... it can be pretty heartbreaking.

I cope by trying to have the most minimal of expectations. I don't think it's necessarily a good thing, neither is it necessarily a bad thing. It's just a personal way of managing expectations.

But I think while it's alright to hope for the best for all sorts of promises - material things, career, relationships, life in general - to put all our hopes and expectations and joy on these things would only lead to a hollow, empty feeling.

All these things, in this lifetime, will bound to let us down one way or the other. Our career might take a step back, the object that we bought doesn't work so well as advertised (boy, that's usually the case), a parent/sibling/spouse/friend/pet will hurt us. We will sometimes (or often) be placed in life's deepest pits.

All these things that we seek out for won't give us complete, perfect, fulfilled joy.

It may sound like I'm a downer, or that I'm just a weak person who can't cope with letdowns in life.
But it's more accurate to say ... I've savoured something so good, so precious, so infinitely wonderful compared to any goodness I can squeeze from the things I've mentioned.

I've tasted the gospel, I've seen how God's promises are yes in Christ (2 Cor 1:20). I know how Christ alone far surpasses anything I can enjoy in this lifetime.

So I'm thankful that when my wandering heart strays from Him to find less magnificent treasures, even God-given ones, God is pulling me back to show me that all these pleasures "macam Yes(us) tapi bukan".