FORGET NONE OF HIS BENEFITS, volume 7, number 29, July 17, 2008

You are no longer to give the people straw to make brick as previously; let them go and gather straw for themselves, Exodus 6:7.

Unfulfilled Expectations

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the preacher who has most shaped my ministry, but also that of countless other pastors, was suffering physical exhaustion in the summer of 1949. He had been laboring at Westminster Chapel, London, since 1939 and was planning another American preaching tour in July, August, 1949, preaching for Clarence Macartney of First Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh and Harold J. Ockenga of Park Street Church, Boston. But ML-J had a persistent cough and his good friend and doctor, Lord Horder, ordered him to stay in the U.K. that summer and rest. So ML-J checked himself into a hospital in Bristol for a rest. He already was suffering from a mild case of depression, no doubt brought on by physical exhaustion, but while in his room one morning he said he felt the presence of evil. He had been disappointed in someone whom he greatly respected and the devil used this to bring ML-J very low. He picked up an A.W. Pink book and saw the word glory and this immediately revived him, giving him a deep sense of the love of God. A few weeks later while vacationing in his beloved Wales the same sense of evil pervaded his room, bringing him low again. Finally, on September 11, 1949, while in his study, preparing for the next day’s preaching at Westminster Chapel, he experienced a preacher’s worst nightmare. He has nothing from God to say. He was sorely depressed over this prospect late on that Saturday afternoon when Titus 1:2 came into his mind, “in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago.” ML-J says that God immediately met him, giving him the sermon for the next morning. He later discovered God mightily used that sermon to encourage a number of people who heard it, especially a missionary couple who were passing through London and “happened” to be in the service that morning.

Though ML-J was not one who suffered chronically from depression, he did battle it that summer. His biographer, Iain Murray, has suggested that though ML-J had previous to this been a powerful preacher, an added dimension came to his preaching after his bout with depression, furnishing him with a practicality and compassion somewhat lacking before that time.

Unfulfilled expectations can be a real cause of depression in people. When Yahweh heard the cry of His people suffering in Egyptian bondage He raised up Moses, commanding him to go to Pharaoh to tell him to “let My people go.” No doubt Moses and the sons of Israel expected a rather cooperative Pharaoh, at least in the beginning; so when he not only refused to acknowledge Yahweh, but actually made matters worse on Israel by requiring them to gather their own straw for brick, keeping the quota the same; the people were in an uproar. The Jewish foremen, who were being beaten by Pharaoh’s lieutenants, cried out in anger against Moses saying, “May the Lord look upon you and judge you, for you have made us odious in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants.” And even Moses cried out to Yahweh, asking Him why He had brought harm to His people. Understand this- unfulfilled expectations are a natural cause of depression. What are your unfilled expectations? First, you may expect sanctification before justification. That is, you may think God accepts you, or that you gain or maintain His favor by what you do, rather than who you are in Christ. Your behavior has nothing to do with your standing. I am not saying you are not to obey God. I am not saying no rewards come to those who obey. See Deuteronomy 28. Obedience to the covenant brings blessing while disobedience brings God’s chastisement; but the moment you expect God’s favor because of obedience is the moment you are setting yourself up for disappointment. If you say, “I have been faithful to God and thus expect Him to make me rich,” but then suffer the loss of a child, you will feel cheated by God. You will feel that He has not kept His end of the agreement. Second, you may expect a perfect world but soon realize its fallenness. You may say, “I love Christ. Therefore I expect no problems.” When you assume this you will experience unfulfilled expectations and will move toward depression. Third, you may expect all people to love you but soon discover that some wish to harm or cheat you. You may say, “If God loves me, then why does He allow people to cheat me, betray me?” And fourth, you may expect a prosperous life because you love and serve Christ. After all, many of the television evangelists tell you that financial prosperity is yours if you simply exercise faith and think positively. What are your unfulfilled expectations? Is something bringing you down into depression? What results from depression of this nature? Instead of being a joyful Christian you may be a miserable one. Instead of being a pleasant Christian you may become an angry one. Instead of being a trusting Christian you may become a doubting one. And instead of being a patient Christian you may become a despairing one. What can be worse than a miserable, angry, doubting, and despairing Christian? What would cause an unbeliever to be attracted to Christianity when seeing professing followers of Jesus living in misery and anger? Are these not oxymoronic terms? Surely you have experienced this to some degree and it very well may be the result of unfulfilled expectations.

What are you to do? You must believe in God. In John 14 we find Jesus with His disciples as He approaches the cross at Calvary. He has been telling them for sometime that He is to be arrested, beaten, and crucified. These words went in one ear and out the other. They did not comprehend what He was saying, but now they get it and they are fearful. No doubt they reasoned, “People know we are His followers, and if they are to do this to Him, then what is to happen to us?” Their expectation was a military messiah who would crush Roman rule and re-establish the golden age of David. Their expectation was being crushed and they were miserable, doubting, despairing, if not also angry. In this situation Jesus says to them, “Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you, that where I go, you may come also.” You think you know what a mansion is but you have no comprehension of what awaits you in heaven. It’s like a native from Papua New Guinea being told he will gain a mansion in the Hamptons of Long Island. He cannot comprehend the grandeur, and neither can you on what awaits you in heaven. Take action. Put away your expectations of earthly, temporal ease. In fact you should expect hardship, but you should also believe what God says. Go on the offensive. Believe the promises of God. Hold onto His wisdom, goodness, and sovereignty in all things.

FORGET NONE OF HIS BENEFITS is a weekly devotional by Reverend Al Baker, pastor of Christ Community Presbyterian Church in West Hartford, Connecticut.

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