Not What I Expected

I ate a lemon.
I did not mean to eat a lemon.
I thought the lemon was something else.
It caught me by surprise.

It was an honest mistake.
Who would ever expect to have a lemon slice on top of a bowl of vegetable soup?
My youngest daughter and I went out to lunch.
We enjoy the same organic things.

I got a salad and bowl of soup that I enjoy at this restaurant.
My daughter got a salad and a favorite sandwich with avocado.
We were talking and thoroughly enjoying our time together.
My Greek quinoa salad had a bit of a kick to its taste.

I took a few spoonfuls of soup.
I saw the slice of yellow squash on the top.
I had eaten around it; however now it was time to take a bite.
As my daughter was talking, I bit into a slice of lemon.

The kick from the Greek quinoa salad was nothing compared to this.
I know my face scrunched up in a distorted way because of the sour lemon.
Are you OK, Mom? She asked.
I carefully and discreetly removed the slice of lemon from my mouth.

I drank some water.
I just ate a slice of lemon, I told her.
Lemon slices in water or lemon drizzled over fish or salads is one thing.
Biting into a lemon slice when you expected yellow squash is quite another.

That same thing happened to me as a little girl.
I bit into what I thought were carrots.
As soon as I tasted them, I knew they were not carrots.
I bit into sweet potatoes; it was quite a while before I could eat sweet potatoes again.

It is not pleasant to taste one thing when you expect another.
Your taste buds are ready for the taste you enjoy.
You are surprised when something different is on your tongue.
It is really a matter of expectations.

We have expectations about people.
Often, our problem with someone is because they simply do not meet our expectations.
Is the problem really with them, or is it with us?
Sometimes, we need a little piece of humble pie to admit where the problem lies.

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’  “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:13-21)

God has some choice words for the man in this parable.
God called him a fool.
He was not a fool because of his wealth.
Rather he was a fool because his wealth was all he had and the only thing in which he trusted.

The rich man had expectations.
He had an abundant harvest.
He would tear down his barns and build bigger ones to store all his extra grain.
He expected his abundance to increase exponentially so that he could take life easy.

The rich man ate a lemon.
The rich man was expecting one thing and got something far different.
The man was rich in material things but he was poor towards God.
Th rich man expected to be alive for a long time so he could eat, drink, and be merry.

God demanded the life of the rich man.
That was something the rich man never expected.
He thought he had time; he had wealth and counted on accumulating more.
He never expected his life to end so abruptly.

Quite often, expectations get in the way of actually living.
We never imagine things happening differently from the way we considered them.
Situations and people fail to meet our expectations.
The problem is with us, not them.

If we were honest, God does not meet our expectations.
God does not work on our timetable.
God does not do things the way we would do them.
God does not always give us the things we ask for exactly the way we ask for them.

God does everything perfectly.
We eat His delicacies, but think they taste like lemons.
The problem is with us, not God.
The problem is always with us.

I do not want to eat a lemon again.
However, I am grateful for the lesson.
I want to lay down my expectations and accept the delicacies of God.
God’s plan is far better, for my good and His Glory.