It’s no secret to any parent that Christmas morning arrives with enormous expectations. Every year seems to come with the unspoken pressure to create the best Christmas morning in the history of Christmas mornings. And if we’re honest, we often carry a few of our own expectations into the season as well.
But beneath the decorating, the shopping, and the countdown to December 25, Advent invites us into a deeper kind of waiting. One that is far more significant than the moment the wrapping paper starts flying and the hot cocoa starts flowing.
In this modern Advent season, we participate in two layers of expectation:
- We await Christmas Day. We look forward to a day when we celebrate Christ’s birth. It’s a day to remember His goodness and share blessings with others.
- We await Christ’s return. We look forward to a day when all things will be made new and every tear wiped away (Revelation 21:4).
Both forms of waiting are good. But both can also expose something about us: Humans have a complicated relationship with expectations. For example, everyday life is filled with reasonable expectations:
- I expect to wake up in the morning.
- I expect to have food to eat.
- I expect my kids to clean their rooms and do their homework without complaining… (Okay, maybe that last one is a bit far-fetched. We’re still working on memorizing Philippians 2:14.)
But expectations don’t stay simple for long. When they aren’t met, our hearts can slide into bitterness, anger, resentment, or disappointment. We might feel uncared for or even entitled to better. Why do unmet expectations sting so deeply? Often it’s because we’ve placed our hope on shaky foundations like people, circumstances, or our own ability to make things turn out right.
So here’s the big question for you this Christmas:
What if we reframed our expectations, not around our personal desired outcomes… but around God’s character?
- Instead of worrying about finances… I expect the Lord to provide.
- Instead of shaming myself for my shortcomings… I expect the Lord to be gracious.
- Instead of feeling helpless… I expect the Lord to defend.
- Instead of lashing out in frustration at culture… I expect the Lord to be just.
- Instead of panicking about the future… I expect the Lord’s Word to be fulfilled.
When our expectations flow from who God is, rather than what we want, our hearts find steadiness. The truth is this: Jesus has already come! He was born in a manger, lived a sinless life, crucified, buried, risen, and ascended. And Scripture promises He will come again.
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11
This promise anchors our Advent expectations. We do not wait in uncertainty; we wait in confidence. The One who came is the One who will return. As we wait expectantly for Jesus to return, we can choose a different posture in this season. One shaped not by pressure or perfectionism, but by trust. Advent becomes a time to realign our expectations with God’s character, God’s promises, and God’s timing.
Maybe this year, instead of striving for the “perfect” Christmas morning, we embrace the perfect Savior who has already come…and who will come again.
And in that expectation, our hearts find peace.
Written by Sarah McMahon, Director of Women’s Ministry at Western Reserve Grace Church in Macedonia, Ohio, as part of an advent series titled, “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus.”