Philippians 1:12-18 • Joy in Releasing Expectations

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What trials are you going through right now? What in your mind do you expect to happen as acceptable outcomes? Maybe it’s time to release those expectations and stay free. In the last article in this series, we looked at the joy of letting God be the perfectionist in our lives rather than ourselves. This is post #4 in the Philippians blog series. In this post, we will look at how releasing expectations can lead to joy.

Listen to this post as a similar podcast from the Knowing Jesus…Knowing Joy! Bible Study covering Philippians in the New Testament. (10 lessons)

Expectations of Acceptable Outcomes

Storms of life hit

At a recent women’s retreat, a group of us women were talking about the storms of life and how we respond to them. The speaker shared that there are really two types of storms that hit us—those caused by our own disobedience and those that hit through no fault of our own. Hurricane Harvey hit my Christian friends hard on the Gulf Coast. An otherwise healthy and very godly young mom is battling cancer that just won’t go away. A happily married couple, who love Jesus, can’t get pregnant and carry babies to term.

When we go through such difficulties of life, we all have what we would consider acceptable outcomes. What we would consider the “right” answers from God to our prayers. Soon those acceptable outcomes become expected outcomes. But those expectations can become traps if we try to hold onto them too tightly.

Read more about facing the storms of life with courage and peace in this blog, “Deborah • Face Trouble with Courage and Peace.”

Expecting rewards from obedience

In our small group discussion at the retreat, one woman brought up the concept of obedience to the Lord and expecting a reward from Him for that obedience. That seems to be biblical. God commands our obedience. He certainly implies that we will be rewarded in some way for our love and obedience. We feel HIs pleasure and His joy as we follow Him closely.

Then, troubles hit. Two people who kept themselves pure for marriage experience infertility. That doesn’t fit the expected outcome of sexual purity before marriage. A pastor suddenly deserts his wife and three children. She is stunned. Wasn’t she being obedient to the Lord with her life? That desertion doesn’t fit the expected outcome. How hard it is to release those expected outcomes and find joy in the trial!

Release Expectations of Acceptable Outcomes

Several years ago, I read an article that stunned me with this statement:

“Joy requires us to release our expectation of what is an acceptable outcome.” (Jenny Heckman, Just Between Us, Spring 2018, p. 44)

That grabbed my attention in an unforgettable way.

When we approach troubles with expectations of what we think are acceptable outcomes and then something else happens, our disappointment and anger can explode like geysers shooting out of the ground. It’s okay to ask for specific answers to prayer. But we need to hold onto those expected answers with open fingers. We must release them to Jesus, and let Him decide what to do. That’s releasing expectations.

Paul Released His Expectations

We see in Philippians chapter 1 how Paul released his expectations.

Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guardand to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, (Philippians 1:12-18)

His readers might have thought that Paul’s imprisonment had hampered the building of the church of Jesus Christ. Paul announced that the things that happened to him were actually advancing God’s program. It didn’t depend on Paul. He had released that expectation.

Because of Paul’s imprisonment in Rome, many people had heard the gospel who would not otherwise have heard it, including Roman imperial guards. And other Christians had become more outspoken in sharing the gospel, inspired by Paul’s courage. Some weren’t doing it out of pure motives. But Paul believed that it was better for people with impure motives to preach Christ than that they not preach Him at all. It’s all good and glorifying to God. Paul released the expectation that he had to be the one leading the charge.

And we see in the next verses, that Paul released his expectation of only one acceptable outcome. Getting out of prison would be great. But if God chose to leave him there or to have him executed, Paul considered those as acceptable outcomes as well. And he rejoiced about it.

I love what long-time seminary professor Dr. Tom Constable said about this,

[Paul] could maintain a truly joyful attitude, even in unpleasant circumstances, because he derived his joy from seeing God glorified—rather than from seeing himself exalted. (Dr. Tom Constable’s Notes on Philippians 2019 Edition, p. 32)

He could rejoice at any one of God’s acceptable outcomes. You and I can do that too.

Rejoice at God’s Acceptable Outcome

When you release your expectation of acceptable outcomes, you can rejoice at what God is going to do instead of complaining about what God did not do.

That is what Paul did.

And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, (Philippians 1:18)

Paul chose to rejoice when he released his acceptable outcomes and saw the good that God was doing in spite of his situation.

Martha and Mary

That reminds me of how both Martha and Mary responded to Jesus in John chapter 11. “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” That was their only acceptable outcome. But Jesus had a greater purpose. What floors me is that John 11:5 says that Jesus loved them. Loved them, and He still let them go through that pain. They did nothing wrong. He wept with them. But He had a greater purpose. When Martha and Mary saw Him, they had to trust His goodness in whatever He would do for them in their trial. What would be His acceptable outcome? Bringing a four-day dead Lazarus back to life was a far better outcome than the sisters had in mind.

Read more about what these two sisters learned about faith in this article, ”John 11-12 • Mary and Martha, Jesus satisfies your heart with LOVE.”

Do it by faith

By faith, we can avoid the trap of unreleased expectations. We do that by releasing them. We can know with certainty that Jesus loves us and knows what is going on in our lives. We can have confidence in His power to do something about it. But the way to release expectations is to trust in His goodness in whatever He chooses to do in that situation.

It’s okay to ask for your heart’s desire. But leave the decision in His hand. Accept the outcome that He provides. And let Him fill your heart with joy in whatever He chooses to do.

What trials are you going through right now? What in your mind do you expect to happen as acceptable outcomes? Maybe it’s time to release those expectations and stay free.

Read a more detailed discussion of this topic in, “Release Your Expectations of Acceptable Outcomes.”

In the next post, we will learn how to have the joyous perspective like Paul—to live is Christ.

Want to have joy in your life?

Let Jesus satisfy your heart with the fullness of His joy. Then, live in that joy!

All of the above information is covered in the Knowing Jesus…Knowing Joy! Bible Study covering Philippians in the New Testament.

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