It's A Wonderful Life!

Do you have expectations of what your life will be? If I work hard, do the right thing, care for my family and others, make healthy choices, then I will have a long, happy, prosperous life. Right? In the movie, "It's A Wonderful Life," George Bailey had expectations for his life. He was going to go off, see the world, do something important with his life. He never really defined what "important" was, but it is understood to be something that cannot be accomplished where he is, in a small town filled with small lives.

As most of us know, life isn't always what we expect it to be. There are bumps, boulders and sometimes mountains to be overcome. Getting over and around the obstacles can set us on a different path than the one we expected. And it is difficult to give up expectations that we have nurtured and cultivated over time. Some of mine have been with me longer than I can remember, they have become an integral part of my mindset and processing.
When Clarence comes to him, George is at a place where nothing has gone as he expected it to go, and he feels utterly lost. We can get mired in that kind of thinking, too. Where is the project that was going to transform lives, make me rich, famous, useful, worthwhile? If I can't accomplish that big, extravagant, "important" thing, then what use is my life? George is so lucky! Clarence helps George define his life affirmatively by allowing him to see what it is not. George's eyes were closed to just how wonderful his life was by the curtain of his expectations. I guess there is nothing wrong with dreams and expectations, unless we allow them to blind us to reality.
Does that apply to our expectations for God as well. If we have big, important expectations of God do they keep us from seeing God in the many small ways he comes to us every day? Think about the Jews as they waited for the Messiah to come based on this prophecy:
Isaiah 9:6-7 New International Version (NIV)


6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.




I don't know about you, but if I heard those words I would NOT be expecting a baby. Or a man who would willingly, peacefully sacrifice his life. And whenever I see the word zeal, well, I just hold on because I know that means it is going to be quite a ride! So how many people in his day missed Jesus because he just didn't fit their expectation?




The sermons the last two weeks left me with some questions. Like George, I could use some help in defining who the Messiah is that I am expecting. How did and does Christ fulfill that promise? And what exactly does a wonderful life look like? Paul gives us one answer to that last question in Philippians 2:3-4




"3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others."




Maybe imitating the humility of Christ keeps us focused on the "smaller" things, so we can see the forest for the trees. Service to others does make a difference. I keep working on it, but right about now I could use my own personal Clarence.