Daily Devotions - Tuesday, December 2

What Are You Expecting This Season?

“Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
and the glory of God shall be revealed among us.’”
--A voice of a prophet

The prophet certainly was filled with great expectations, it seems to me. I would add that we often deal with great expectations—sometimes it is our expectation of others, sometimes it is others’ expectation of us. Here is a little story about great expectations:

On the first day of school, a teacher was glancing over the roll. She noticed a number after each student’s name, such as 154, 136 or 143. “Wow! Look at these IQs,” she thought. “What a terrific class.” The teacher promptly determined to work harder with this class than with any other she ever had.

Throughout the year, she came up with innovative lessons that she thought would challenge the students, because she didn’t want them to get bored with work that was too easy.

Her plan worked! The class outperformed all the other classes that she taught in the usual way. Then, during the last marking period of the year, she discovered what those numbers really were: The locker numbers for each student.

We can make many assessments about this story. Consider it an example of “Great Expectations.” I hope you have a good day experiencing “Great Expectations” in your life.

Ben Keckler
12.02.08