There are going to be days that we don't give what we expect. There will be times that we received something totally different than what we expected. Usually, that disappoints us. That's because in most cases when we have expectations, those are for something we desire to be met. When we get something different than our expectations, it's difficult to immediately reassess whether the change was good, because we're too busy thinking about what we thought we were getting. This is even more difficult when instead of getting something different than our expectations, we seem to get nothing at all. Making the adjustment to consider whether our expectations were justified, or even good for us is that much harder. When we apply this concept to God (of “getting, or not getting what we expected”), we have the assurances of knowing that He will provide what we need and that His knowledge of what is best for us, exceeds ours. Those assurances change whether we need to be disappointed about having our expectations met. We never have to be disappointed with God for not meeting our expectations. This highlights a misconception Christians have about God. We tend to believe that God will always meet our expectations. That’s not true. Even though we sometimes place incorrect expectations on God, He is faithful. He will always do what He has promised. That just may not be what, or how, we expect.

I don't know what I expected from today's devotional before I read it, but even as I began to preview the referenced scriptures, I didn't anticipate much inspiration. I had already spent good quality time in prayer, and fellowshipping with God this morning, and had written down several other scripture passages to pray and memorize. So maybe because 1) the subject of “affection shown to my wife” was an area I've already been working on successfully lately, or maybe because 2) the topic didn't seem likely to challenge me - it didn't “meet my expectations” for inspiring study that would uncover Biblical truth. To be honest, knowing that I was going to be digging into the book of Song of Solomon made me kind of sleepy (smirk). But I acknowledged that frustration when I first encountered it, and because I know that God desires for me to grow in his word, I still expected a blessing. My studying uncovered some background for the purpose of the book of Song of Solomon, and its inclusion in the Bible. And I understand the etymology of the Shulamite woman and her symbolism relative to God (the man represented in the poetic prose of the poetry in Song of Solomon) and Jerusalem (Shulamite- Shulam/Shalom/Salem: original Jerusalem). A revelation of this study is that the book of Song of Solomon in the Bible shows us that the intimacy of the relationship between God and his people should not be discounted, nor the depth of His desire to seek us or be sought by us. But that isn't what I expected when I started looking for revelation in God's word this morning. Nonetheless, I am growing in His word, just as He desires for me.