This past Sunday, we touched on the following question: 

“If doing the right thing doesn’t produce the right results, why do the right thing at all?”

It’s an understandable question, but the question sparks three areas of interest that every single one of us should consider: our assumptions, our expectations, and our motivations. 

ASSUMPTIONS

First, if the right thing isn’t producing the desired results, perhaps the first thing we should do is question the assumption that our right thing really is God’s ‘right’ thing.

Interestingly enough, nowhere in the books of Ezra or Nehemiah does God command anyone to charge ahead in the renewal work they’re leading.  Seriously, read through the texts.  You won’t find a single, “Thus sayeth the Lord” statement anywhere. 

Of course, this doesn’t mean God wasn’t speaking to the folks leading these renewal projects.  The absence of a direct quote from God doesn’t necessarily mean God hadn’t spoken to them.  However, given how much authority comes with a statement like, “Thus sayeth the Lord,” you’d think if it happened, they’d have documented it. 

I’m not suggesting these guys shouldn’t have done what they did.  I’ll let you be the judge of that.  I’m simply suggesting that we don’t normally consider the possibility of whether or not they were justified in their work and ambitions.  We simply take it for granted that they were doing the right thing, even though we never see a direct command or charge from God. 

While we never get a divine stamp of approval, what we do see in the books of Nehemiah and Ezra are well-intended leaders leading with deep conviction, doing their best to honor God with their lives.  There are definitely moments when they are given green lights to move forward, but let’s not confuse permission with commission.  All things may be permissible, but not all things are beneficial.  Just because we can, doesn’t mean we’re called.  Of course, the opposite is true as well.  That open-door opportunity may indeed be God’s call to action. 

What I’m trying to get at is this: if we never stop to consider the possible inaccuracy of our assumptions, we may be working towards an outcome that is simply unattainable through those actions.

EXPECTATIONS

The second thing we must do when the right thing doesn’t necessarily produce the desired results is to take an inventory of our expectations.  There is a difference between expectancy and expectation.  Expectations sets limits for when, where, and how God can work and move in our lives.  And very often, these expectations actually prevent us from seeing how God is at work by limiting our field of vision. 

The other day I went searching for the syrup in the cupboard.  I’d seen it in a certain location a day or two before, so I knew exactly where to look – back right corner, bottom shelf.  The problem was, sometime between when I last saw it and at the point that I was looking for it, it had been moved to the very front of the shelf closest to my eye level.  In other words, it was about 6 inches from my face.

I looked and looked, but could not find the syrup.  Determined not to ask my wife for where it was (something I admittedly do far too often), I gave it one more look and sure enough, found it right in front of my face – literally.  My expectations for where the syrup “should be” actually prevented me from seeing it.  I was in a sense, blinded by my expectation.

Expectancy may sound similar, but it’s actually very different.  Rather than narrowing our field of vision, expectancy widens it.  Rather than limiting and bounding our vision, expectancy invites us to open our eyes wider and to listen more closely for what God is up to in a given situation.

Expectation says, “God will do X, so I will look for X.” Expectancy says, “God is at work, so I will look for God.”

Notice how expectation actually ends up being transactional –while expectancy becomes wondrously relational. Whereas expectation limits our field of vision to a specified activity or behavior – expectancy opens our eyes, ears, hearts, and minds to our limitless and boundless God. 

When the right thing doesn’t produce the right results, not only should we reflect upon our assumptions of what is ‘right’, we should also reflect upon the automated outcomes we’ve assumed must follow in the wake of our actions.

MOTIVATION

Finally, the third thing we must do is check the nature of our motivation.  When the right thing hasn’t produced the hoped-for results, it’s good for us to stop and check the condition of our hearts. 

Every parent can tell the difference between a child who is loving on them just because and a child who is loving on them because they want something.  While “just because” often feels like an inadequate explanation in most circumstances, when it comes to love, nothing is more beautiful than to be loved “just because”. 

If our love for God is predicated on our wants, on what we get out of our relationship with God, there actually is no relationship – we’re just consumers of God’s goods, not people consumed by the goodness of God. If our motives for obedience are driven by what God can give us rather than giving ourselves away to our self-giving God, then we’ve become consumers of religious goods, not children of the living God.

Jesus said this regarding life with God through Himself:

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart!  I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NIV).  Jesus’ victory doesn’t remove trouble from our lives, but His victory does give us hope in every trouble we face in life.  His victory doesn’t guarantee that right actions will always lead to right outcomes, but it does guarantee that regardless of the outcome, we can have a peace that doesn’t make sense – a peace that stands as a beautiful paradox to the circumstances around us.

So, let’s check our assumptions, question our expectations, and challenge our motivations so that, in the end, regardless of how things go, we too might take heart in the hope and victory of Jesus Christ.