My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. Psalm 62:5 (NKJV)
There’s an old saying that goes, “Expectation is the root of all heartache.” That’s because the expectations we place on other people set them up for failure—and ourselves for disappointment.
It reminds me of a story I heard about a guy strolling on the beach when a seagull flew above and pooped on his face. Freaking out, he screamed at the bird to come back and wipe off the mess. The guy refused to clean himself up because he expected the gull to return and make things right.
He went home to his wife, poop still oozing down his nose, and was disappointed when she wasn’t up for any fun that night. He went to work the next day reeking like a birdcage and couldn’t figure out why nobody wanted to do lunch with him.
Weeks later, he was still waiting for the seagull to return and clean up the stench it had made in his life. It may sound like the most ridiculous story you’ve ever heard, but how many of us operate the same way in life?
We walk around holding onto the stink of anger, pain and frustration because other people hurt our feelings or self-worth along the line. They did something painful to us or acted insensitively, and until they return to apologize or fix it, we hang onto the mess.
Let me share a small piece of liberating advice: clean off the bird poop of life yourself. Let go of expecting others to meet your needs or fix what’s broken. Give it to God. Forgive and let God heal your heart and help you move on.
Like today’s Psalm instructs, keep your expectations on God instead. He never fails.