So there it sits, wedged in amongst the recycling, gathering dust in all of its unmerited magnificence.
Recently, my husband called me, bursting with excitement, to say he had found a commercial theatre-style popcorn-maker for the church for sale online. The good news was they only wanted thirty bucks. “Bring it!” I responded. “We’ll test it out tonight.”
So, when he walked through the door, after a trip over hill and dale, with a regular-sized popcorn maker under his arm, my jaw hit the floor and he mumbled, “Yeah, I wasn’t sure if I should get it. But it makes 20 cups of popcorn at a time.”
Noting the oversized scoop that came with it, we were reassured that, as the name on the machine implied, shovelfuls of delicious popcorn and a marvelous movie night were mere moments away. We fired up the machine and watched expectantly as things heated up. When several minutes of sluggish, intermittent popping rewarded us with a meagre handful of shriveled, scorched popcorn, we agreed amid much chortling, to chalk this one up to experience.
Slick promos. False advertising. Failure to disclose. Misrepresentation. Vows made but not upheld. We’ve all experienced getting the short end of the stick and have had our hopes and dreams dashed when someone or something failed to meet our expectations. And, if we’re honest, we will admit that we too have fallen short of promises we’ve made to others, and even to ourselves.
Dependability, trustworthiness, truthfulness, integrity, honour, righteousness. These traits seem harder to come by these days. But what if you could find someone who never broke their promises? Who always went the extra mile with and for you? Whom you could trust implicitly with everything you hold dear, including your very life?
1 Peter 2:6 declares that there is indeed One in Whom we can have complete and utter confidence. Speaking of Jesus Christ, Peter writes, “For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a chosen stone, a precious (honored) Cornerstone, And he who believes in Him [whoever adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] will never be disappointed [in his expectations].”
Peter says, whoever believes in Jesus, truly entrusting their life to Him will never be disappointed in that choice. That is an astonishing claim every true believer can count on. Ephesians 3:20 tells us that God “is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us.”
Not only does God promise not to disappoint us, He promises to blow our minds with His goodness, faithfulness and power! My question is, with promises as great as these, why wouldn’t we take God at His Word? I don’t know about you, but I have great expectations!