Eager Expectation

Expectations are powerful things.

Super Bowl ad revenue is driven almost exclusively by expectations. Some time in the not so distant past, a few companies decided to spend a little extra time and creativity on ads run during the Super Bowl. It worked. People loved the ads. This began to create an expectation about the future ads. People started actually watching the commercials and paying attention to them during the pauses. NFL and network executives caught on to this and started charging exorbitant amounts of money for spots, fueling our expectations of the ads worth this kind of money to show. Something that we most often skip through or leave the room for on any other day becomes something where people "shush" others and critique harder than the game itself. And we joyfully wade through more than an hour of crap commercials to find two or three that are genuinely enjoyable. And companies endure the hit on their accounts because they know people will watch and even a bad commercial gets talked about, a lot.

Actually the entire premise of commercial ad revenue is based on expectation. If the show is worth watching, we will endure the breaks and ads just so we can watch what we want to. Ad execs and network revenue execs know this so they pay and charge more for spots in more popular shows.

We endure a lot if we expect much. It is ingrained into the deepest core of our being. Our culture knows it and feeds off of it. We are so thirsty as to be insatiable. If we think we can be satisfied, we will endure anything. Therefore, things are offered to quench our thirst and people constantly evaluate just how much punishment we will take as commercial breaks become longer, more frequent and more obtrusive (just look at the evolution of ads in internet video over the past couple of years to know this). As expectations grow, tolerance increases.


"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God...And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience." Romans 8:18-19, 23-25


You may have noticed a recurring theme in the content of this blog. Not only the theme of thirst but also the theme of looking forward to something greater as it pertains to various desires that we want fulfilled. You may want me to talk about something else. I would submit to you that there really is nothing else. The problem is we forget to remind ourselves what exactly we are waiting for and our anticipation wanes. Our expectations lose prominence. The eagerness is gone, hope fades and our affections return to the temporal, the mundane and the empty. I know this because I am an "out of sight, out of mind" person. I will only be thirsty for something if it is constantly in front of me. 


Over and over, the means by which we strive for holiness and for endurance is directly connected to resurrection bodies or glorification in heaven. We have the goal and purpose of glorifying God and enjoying him forever. Our dedication to that end is directly connected to the way in which we engage our minds in this eager expectation and hope. What we MUST do is to constantly raise our eyes and put into our sight the future vision that God has given us and live like that future vision is a present reality. This is the only way we can patiently wait for anything, enduring everything, lacking nothing. It is the only way we can look at all of the ways the world promises to quench our thirst and know that all that it offers is vanity. We can only do that if we have the promised fulfillment in our sight.


A while ago, I adopted the well known poem in "V for Vendetta" to fit this theme. The character V used this poem as a mantra to motivate his painful and arduous existence, his long term plan and the hard choices he had to make to achieve his ends. There are many verses of scripture that do that for us, as you have seen but I have still found the poetry easier to remember and the message compelling.

Remember remember, our blessed Redeemer
The upcoming season he bought
I know of no reason this upcoming season
Should ever be forgot

If I can remember this, if my expectations are set properly, the Bible says and practical experience with human nature has proven, I can endure anything.

And Scripture promises it will be worth it.