After complaining to a friend – I mean ‘talking’ with a friend – about a commitment I had made that was taking up a lot of time, she looked at me inquisitively and asked, “What did you expect?”

We looked at each other and laughed. What did I expect? Really? From her, I am pretty sure I was expecting some sympathy.

We want to be successful, but we never quite feel full of success. If we could just not worry about personal success – and make our lives about desiring spiritual success…

Here are two ways to get started:

Enlarge our vision. It is not about us. Whatever we do impacts someone somewhere. It does not matter if it is homework, housework, work work, or God’s work – because the reality is that it is all God’s work. It’s not about the income – it’s about the outcome. We may get tired. We may want to quit. Having the ability and capability may help us take on the response-ability. And if we have the ability to respond, God often leads us to do just that. Remember WHO we are working for… in everything we do.

Raise our level of expectancy. What do we expect? We need to expect more – from God. That is called having faith – and without faith it is impossible to please God. He has proven in His Word over and over – and to us – time and time again – that He will show up when least expected, do the unexpected, and go beyond our expectations. We should just learn to expect it!

Think about Noah. What do we know-a about Noah? We know that Genesis 6:8-9 says that he found grace in the eyes of the Lord and that he was a just man who walked with God.

God told him to build the ark. What did Noah expect? He expected rain.

God told him how to prepare for it – and he got right to work!

Genesis 6:22 says: Thus did Noah, according to all that God commanded him, so did he. The verse starts and finishes with Noah doing the work God gave him to do.

Even though Noah was around 600 years old, I somehow doubt that he spent much time complaining to friends about the commitment he had undertaken – because he knew it would have good results – I mean – God results.

Noah had a big assignment. And…he had big expectations!

Hard work with little rest sometimes happens. It is always okay to do more than expected. If God calls us to it, He will see us through it.

Ann is a speaker and teacher. Contact her at annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com