Our expectations can and often do set us up for disappointment. We are expecting things to turn out our way and they don’t. We are frustrated to discover that we’re not in control. We are expecting others to do what they’ve committed to, and they don’t. We are dismayed to be let down, to find out that we can’t count on them to follow through. We are planning and working on a project, expecting a positive result that, for some reason, doesn’t materialize. We are saddened by our failure, angry about how we got derailed from accomplishing our goal.

We can relate to John the Baptist. In last week’s gospel, we heard John describing the Messiah he expected: “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” But when he was arrested for his aggressive prophecies, and Jesus came on the scene beginning his public ministry, what happened to John’s expectations? He heard nothing that met his expectations of a judging Messiah; rather, he heard only about Jesus’ mercy and love. He wondered if he could have been wrong in thinking that Jesus was the promised Messiah. He sent his disciples to question Jesus, to find out if John had been off track, if his expectations of being the “one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,’ ” (Lk.3:4) were crumbling around him in his prison cell.

In response, Jesus reminded him of Isaiah’s prophecy of joy that we have in today’s lesson from the Hebrew scriptures. He changed John’s perspective, pointing out the Holy Way for God’s people is a highway of joy where folks “shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall pass away.”

When our expectations are not met, we would do well to be open to looking at the situation from a different perspective and to follow the apostle James’ advice to be patient. God’s ways are not our ways. Kairos (God’s time) is not chronos (our time).