Our expectations can cause us a world of trouble. Just look at our lesson from the Hebrew scriptures, the story of Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram,” [who] “though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy.” In those days, there was not cure for leprosy, so his expectations and those of the people near and dear to him had to be fear-filled, expectations of a fate worse than death, a life of alienation, indignity. But then a glimmer of hope—a slave girl from Israel in his household told them that the prophet in her country could cure him. Now Naaman’s expectations soared! Off he went and finally arriving at Elisha’s house, he expected to be greeted with the honor due his station. His expectations were dashed. The prophet didn’t greet him at all, merely sent his servant with the prescription for healing. Furthermore, the prescription didn’t meet his expectations either. “He turned and went away in a rage.” His anger clouded his judgment. All of a sudden, it was as though his healing wasn’t worth it.

Don’t we often react the same way when our expectations aren’t met by others? We may get angry; we may become vindictive; we may harbor bitterness, resentment. On the other hand, we may be sad; we may feel hurt, rejected, unloved; we may become depressed and want to give up, to take our marbles and go home. Our emotions are in a turmoil, all because we expected other people to act like we wanted them to, and they didn’t. Likely, they were unaware of our expectations and acted out of their own expedience, their own circumstances of which we may be completely unaware.

Fortunately, Naaman had a discerning counselor who called him into calmness, enabled him to see how his reactions were not helpful, would not solve his problem, and encouraged him to accept the situation as it was. Naaman did and was healed of his leprosy. It is the acceptance of the situation when our expectations are dashed and moving forward in faith and love that brings comfort and peace to our lives, the healing of our hearts.