“Often, it’s not low circumstances that make us lose hope— it’s low expectations.”

A thought by Ray Johnston (2014-05-13) from his book, The Hope Quotient: Measure It. Raise It. You'll Never Be the Same. (p.64). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

There are two words in that thought that have a way to control our view of life.  One we can’t control and the other we can.  One word is circumstances and the other is expectations.  We can’t control our circumstances but we can control our expectations.

Ray says, “Most of us are waiting on a change of circumstances, but what we really need is a change in perspective.”

He goes on, “We see this principle all over the Bible. Jerusalem was a disaster. What’s worse, nothing had gotten better for ninety-two years. Nehemiah showed up there, in a city that had a scorecard that looked like this: Years since the city wall was destroyed – 92. Years the people were stuck there – 92. Years of failure – 92. Years of broken dreams – 92.

“For ninety-two years, the ‘walled’ city of Jerusalem had no walls, and its people lived under the control of what I call the Four F’s— fear, failure, frustration, and fatigue. Then one guy arrived with a perspective not of what had been but of what it could become. After Nehemiah got there, the scorecard looked like this: Number of days to rebuild – 52.  Done. Game over.

“In just fifty-two days the people rebuilt a wall that they themselves had said for ninety-two years couldn’t be built. What changed? One guy arrived with raised expectations and the city was forever changed.”

Ray then said, “When you are the person who arrives on the scene with the right perspective and higher expectations, everything can change.”

So, what is it you hope and expect to change?