Travel fever

Do you like to travel? On vacation, I am usually active. Travel is something good and beautiful. I look forward to meeting many people along the way. Often they are just brief encounters, on the side of the road, maybe a few words in the supermarket, a conversation at the campground, at the airport, at the table at breakfast. I have to ask the way more often and take the opportunity to engage in conversation with others.

Capture goals

“Where are you going?” is a good way to start such an encounter. The question informs about the destination of the trip. In this way, you can take an interest in the other person. If the latter responds, there is always a stimulating conversation. For the most part, it’s nothing profound, but it creates a brief connection. I hear about goals and big dreams (“We are now cycling across the Alps.”) that are being realized with small steps. Apparently, it’s nice to have a goal in mind, to consciously set out on a journey.

Having a goal is not just nice. It also seems quite healthy to set goals for yourself and act on them. Development is one of the things we are given in this life. When we have experienced development as good and valuable, it is easier to get back on track. Then travel fever can really set in.

Set goals

As a Christian, I also ask myself: Does God have a goal in mind? And how does He act to achieve His goal? This is not a minor issue. For either God acts in this world or He does not. This should not remain without consequences. This has not only to do with my being a Christian, but it touches my being human, my existence here in this world. I have been asking myself the questions “where from?”, “why?” and “where to?” long before I recognized myself as a Christian. It is rather that these questions have sent me on a journey myself, searching for answers, until I arrived at the Bible, and then at the God of the Bible. But then I asked the questions again, and went on the journey another time, but now in the Bible.

World view, human view and God view belong together. One cannot be adapted without the other. These three are related to each other. And which God I have also determines my world view and my world. The same applies to answering the question whether God is active in this world, and if so, in what way? Either I recognize God’s action in this world and in this time, or I do not recognize it – and possibly think that the world is rudderless and aimless. Whatever my perception will be, it will shape my expectation and confidence in the here and now.

During vacation encounters, people may talk about unknown destinations, about other countries and distant destinations. Perhaps they are destinations I have never visited myself. But that does not make these countries any less real. However, it is the experience I have had(traveling, experiencing time, meeting people and visiting other countries) that makes me believe that the stories told to me are true.

That is also how I read the Bible. It leaves room for encounter and fulfillment.

Admittedly, an expectation that is already seen is not an expectation(Rom 8:24 gr. elpis). Expectation is rather what the farmer experiences when he cultivates his fields “in expectation”(1 Cor. 9:10). Even if he does not see the result immediately, the farmer knows that the effort is worthwhile. Expectation is the sure assumption that something will be fulfilled, so it is not an indefinite presentiment or mere hope (Gr. prosdokia, as in Acts 12:11). Expectation based on commitment or experience.

Expectation is one of the three abiding things (1 Cor. 13:13). Again, it is not a matter of uncertain hope, but of trust in reliable promises. Expectation is a way of life. It is one of the characteristics of the church in Thessalonica of which Paul wrote:

“We thank God always for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. Unceasingly we remember thereby before our God and Father your labor in faith, your toil in love, and your perseverance in waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1Thess 1,3

These three things shape an attitude toward life that is sustained by God’s love and His promises. The effort is full of confidence, the toil may be for love and the perseverance speaks of perseverance in expectation and in confidence. Living in expectation is not a theoretical or abstract thing. It is, in the last analysis, the expectation of relationship, as Paul writes to his co-worker Timothy:

“Jesus Christ, our expectation”
1Tim 1,1

Those who live in expectation live in a kind of travel fever. The here and now is embraced, just as the road, the train, the plane are part of traveling. But we are also on the way, running towards a goal, living towards an encounter and fulfillment. That sanctifies the day, the relationships, the work. Those who live in expectation have both feet firmly on the ground of reality, so they rejoice in the journey, but precisely in it they have a goal in mind.

Suggestions for conversation

Is there a difference for you between “I hope he comes tomorrow” and “I expect he comes tomorrow”? Which one?
Is it good or desirable to live “in expectation”? Why – or why not?
With a healthy image of God, how might expectation be shaped? Does this correspond to your own experience?
If you look up the scriptures mentioned in your Bible, how is it translated there? (there would be a lot more to say about the words “hope” and “expectation”).
Read and discuss Rom 8:18-25. Does it also say something about God’s purpose? How does Paul see the situation now?