The singing of the doxology by the PCC student body begins Pensacola Christian College Chapel. At each chapel service, students have an opportunity to receive spiritual exhortation and enrichment during a time of music and meditation on God's word. This podcast shares selected recent chapel messages from guest speakers, faculty, and staff. Welcome to the PCC Chapel Podcast. Let's take our Bibles this morning, if you would please, and find our way to the book of Proverbs, chapter 13. The book of Proverbs, chapter 13. And while you're finding your place, I have a few things I want to share with you about our chapel services. To me, one of the most exciting things that I'm involved in here on the campus is all of our chapels that take place. Pensacola Christian College is a Christian college. And with that being said, we realize that every class, we approach the material from a biblical worldview, whether it's a science class or a math class or a music class, it's approached from a biblical worldview. But even with that being true, we still feel like it's great, it's necessary that we meet together as a family on a regular basis to study exclusively the word of God. And that's what these chapel services are all about. Our desire is that you would see chapel as a time to concentrate on the Word of God and open up your heart to the Lord's leading in your life. Now, we want you to be involved in chapel. Dr. Willingham has already mentioned about the opportunity to submit song suggestions. Some of you may be interested in being involved in chapel as far as maybe singing in chapel is concerned, bringing a special force. If that's true, then you want to search Music Check on Eagles Nest to learn how that you can get involved. Returning students, you'll want to be aware of a change A music check is by appointment, so you'll want to take a look at that web page so that you know what to expect. And I just want to remind you that our speakers in chapel, sometimes they'll be from our own staff. We have several former pastors that are part of our Bible staff and part of our administration here at the college, and we look forward to having those folks in the chapel to speak for us. Other times, it'll be part of our faculty, perhaps, that are not former pastors, but have pertinent messages to bring to share with us. Sometimes, in those services, they'll just be like Dr. Shoemaker mentioned the other day, it'll just be kind of a family gathering. Dr. Shoemaker, Dr. Lanz may come in and just have some things to share with us about the college, about the progress of what's going on, just some encouragements about various things that are taking place. Other times, we will have pastors or evangelists or missionaries from around the country that will be invited to speak in our chapel services. Now, please understand, all these men that come in are Bible-believing, Christ-honoring servants of God. However, they are also all unique individuals. and their way of presenting the truth, their way of speaking may be different than what you're accustomed to from back home. Even if that's true, we want to encourage you to listen and to ask God to open your heart to receive what the Lord has for you. Now, if you feel like that you personally want to say a word to our speaker, to thank them, to encourage them, that's fine, that's great. If you feel like that you must respond to something that they say or do that perhaps you don't necessarily agree with, then please don't do that anonymously. Own, take ownership of your thoughts and your opinions. Don't get on social media and say things anonymously. Again, if you have something you feel like you need to say, then that's fine, but take ownership of it. And step up to the plate and be a man or a lady. Chapel is a great opportunity four times a week to be helped in your daily walk with God. And it should not be a time to check messages or to get in some last minute studying. Bring your Bible to every chapel because you're going to need it. Now you may use an iPad for scripture references, but not your cell phone. Now listen closely. No food, drink, or gum is permitted in the library, the Crown Center, the Dale Horton Auditorium, or any academic building. The only exception is that water and a sealable container may be brought into the classroom at the teacher's discretion. Over the years, in speaking with our graduates from the college, many of them have made reference to the chapel services, and some of them go back to a particular chapel service where they said that God spoke to their life and literally changed the whole direction of their life. So chapel is a very important time. And I'm excited about this next semester. I'm excited about the opportunities that lie ahead of us. And we're certainly looking forward to spending this time with you. Again, it's my honor to be in here on a regular basis and to be with you every day. But this morning, it's my particular honor to be able to bring the challenge to you from the word of God. So if you would please, we talked about Proverbs chapter 13. Look at verse number 12. The Bible makes this comment. The scripture declares for us that hope deferred maketh the heart sick. But when the desire cometh, is a tree of life. Social observers tell us that one of the top reasons that people are unhappy in their jobs, their marriages, their lives in general, is because of unrealistic and unfulfilled expectations. I think it's interesting that the social observers are perhaps finally catching up with the Word of God, because the Bible declares for us that hope deferred, that's talking about unfulfilled expectations, maketh the heart sick. The beginning of the year, there was a gentleman that came and spoke to our teachers. And he talked about how that each of us has a script of what we believe our lives should be. Now, again, it's not a written out script that we carry around with us like we were preparing for a dramatic production of some sort. But it's a script that we have developed in our own mind and our own thinking. And we all decided exactly how our life should play out. But sometimes we have to ask ourselves, is our hope or expectation of what our life should be like, is that what God has designed for us? This morning, I want to take just a few moments. And when I talk with you about unfulfilled expectations, First of all, let's look at it from this perspective. Where do our expectations originate? Where do our expectations originate from? Now, many of us have a vision of how our life is going to play out. I remember years ago, a young lady that actually graduated from this college, probably 25 or more years ago, she had gotten married and was expecting her first child and unfortunately had a miscarriage. And my wife and I went by to visit with her to try to encourage her. And she was very distraught. And she just kept saying, I had my life all planned out. This was when I was going to graduate from college. This was when I was going to get married. This was when I was going to have my first child. But it hadn't come to pass in that way. And let's be honest this morning, many of you sitting here right now have your life, you have your script, if you will, for your life all planned out. But let me ask you again, where did that script come from? Where have those plans originated? For some of you this morning, you'd have to say, well, my expectations of what my life is gonna be like are the result of observing other people. I've seen others. I perhaps watched my mom or my dad or some relatives, and I saw how their life played out, and that's how I want my life to play out. And so I'm gonna try to make it come out just exactly like theirs did. Some of you perhaps have come up with your ideas from what we consider to be the American dream, you know, the white picket fence and the, SUV and the 2.5 children. That's the American dream. And that's how you see your life turning out. Some of you perhaps have come up with your expectations by watching the movies, and you just know that that's how your life is. You're going to meet that person, and you're going to go through some turmoil, but then you're going to come back together, and the birds are going to sing, and everything's going to be lovely, and that's how your life's going to turn out. But again, Perhaps the reason, now listen to what I'm saying, young people. Perhaps the reason why we have so many unfulfilled expectations is because our source is wrong. We have developed the expectations of our life again from watching those around us, from watching the movies, from living the American dream, and we have left out the most important element of anyone's life, and that is exactly what does God have for me. There's a verse of scripture I want you to think with me about. I suppose probably 90% of you could quote it. At least if I got you started, I'm sure you could. But the Bible tells us in Proverbs chapter three and verse number five, you remember it? Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Lean not on thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him. And finish the verse for me, class. Exactly. And he shall direct thy path. Isn't that a simple truth? Isn't that just a very simple thing that God has given to us? There are three things that he tells us that we need to do. He says, first of all, we need to trust the Lord with all of our heart. We believe God's word. We say that we do. And we know that his promises are the best way to direct our lives. But young people, listen to me. And you need to remember this. an encounter with God, when we truly begin to trust in the Lord with all of our heart, you know that sometimes that can be kind of messy? It can disrupt your life. It can change everything that you thought your life was going to be. You remember Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 6? Remember the Bible said when Isaiah saw the Lord high and lofty and lifted up, he cried out and said, I am a man of unclean lips. And then the Lord presented to him a situation and a need. And Isaiah just simply said, here my Lord, send me. And I don't think that's what Isaiah had planned for his life, but an encounter with God changed all that. Have y'all ever thought a lot about Mary and Joseph? I realize it's not Christmas time, but we're allowed to talk about Mary and Joseph other times besides in December. But have you ever thought about Mary and Joseph? I mean, here's a young couple, or at least she was younger. He was probably a little older than her, but they were planning their marriage. And I don't know what all went on that day, but if it was today, you can imagine Mary sitting there going through all the bridal books and determining what her wedding was going to be like and what her colors were going to be and then how long they were going to be married before they had their first child and so forth. I'm sure they had their life all planned out. And then all of a sudden, God intervened. And God said, no, here's how your life's gonna play out. You're gonna be with child, and you've never been with a man. Now, the Lord did not like make a announcement to the neighborhood. Now, folks, everybody listen. Mary, not married over here, is actually gonna have a child, but understand, she's never been with a man. God didn't make that announcement. Mary had to face the community, She had to face all that came, even her fiance, Joseph, she had to talk to. And after God spoke with him, of course, his heart was open, but he found out about it before the Lord spoke to him. And he had to deal with that situation. You understand what I'm saying is that when God intervenes in your life, it sometimes gets messy. God changes everything around. God alters everything. But God's way is always the best way. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Lean not to thine own understanding. Our plans and expectations are put aside. All these expectations that we had of what life was going to be like, we put those aside and we just simply say, Lord, here's my life. Take it and use it. And then the Bible says, in all thy ways, acknowledge him. In every area of our life, now listen to what I'm saying. In every area of our lives, we make our decisions based on the principles and the teachings of the word of God. It was an interesting thing. Last semester, there was a worldview survey that was given to some of the students on campus. And again, it was a small portion of the students that are on campus, but it was to kind of take a sampling. In response to the statement, and there were several statements, and students were asked to mark sometimes frequently, very frequently, rarely, not at all, blah, blah, blah. One of the statements was this, the Bible is relevant to my life. 82% said very frequent or frequent. Now, that's good. But it's interesting that in response to the statement, when I have questions about life, I look for answers in the Bible, only 65% said very frequent or frequent. Somewhere 17% said that the Bible is relevant to my life, but I rarely use it to find the answers about life. I wonder this morning that maybe the reason our heart is so sick over unfulfilled expectations is because those expectations do not originate from the right source. Again, our expectations arise from our involvement, our just looking at the world and all the rest of it. Rarely do we just sit down and say, Lord, what would you have me to do? Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, lean not to thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy path." I've said this over and over and over to young people and I repeat it again, the will of God is not so much a destination as it is a relationship. If you keep the relationship what it ought to be, if you keep the relationship right, he'll take care of the destination and you won't have to worry over unfulfilled expectations because our expectations will simply be, Lord, thy will be done in my life. Whatever, even when it gets messy, even when things get all changed or what I envision them to be, even when I end up going in a direction that I never imagined I would go in, that's all right, Lord, because I am trusting in you with all of my heart. We talked about where do your expectations originate, but let me give you this to think about as well. What happens if your expectations get changed? What happens? Well, as I mentioned a moment ago, social observers tell us that most of the discouragement, bitterness, anger, resentment in our lives comes because of unfulfilled expectations. Now be honest, just for a moment, be honest. Why are you angry this morning? Why are you bitter this morning? Why are you discouraged? Why are you maybe resentful? Maybe something happened at a class. Maybe it had to do with your job. Maybe it had to do with a relationship. Maybe it was some honor that you thought you were worthy of and someone else ended up getting it instead of you. Unfulfilled expectations. But now listen, before we go down that path, before we go down that path of letting that anger and that bitterness and that resentment overcome us because of something that we thought was going to happen, but it did not happen, maybe there's some things we ought to consider. You got your Bible in front of you there. Take your Bible just for a moment and go all the way in the New Testament to the book of James. The book of James. In chapter number four, I want you to look at a couple of verses with me. Now, often when we read these verses, we use them in our thinking to apply to people that are unsaved. And there is an application, doubtless, to those who are unsaved. But in the context, And you know what they say when you're studying the Bible, context is king. And in the context, it's talking about folks who are saved. It's talking about you and I. And here's what he says in James chapter four. Look at verse number 13. Go to now, ye that say today or tomorrow, we will go into such a city and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain. Whereas you know not what you'll be on tomorrow, for what is your life? It's even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Now watch verse 15. For that you ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that. It's a little hard to let anger and bitterness overcome us because of unfulfilled expectations when our life's direction is if the Lord will. Now we say that all the time, if the Lord's willing, if the Lord's willing. But isn't it amazing how often we really ignore that when it comes to actual application. If the Lord's willing, if this is what God has, then great. If not, okay, we'll move on from there. If I need to alter my plans, my expectations didn't work out the way they thought they would, obviously God is at work doing something. And so I'm just going to leave it in God's hands. If the Lord will. Psalm 39, verse seven says, and now Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in thee. Can you say that this morning? What am I waiting for? My hope is in the Lord. And so what I'm waiting for is for God to develop what my expectations should be in life. And so I'm waiting for God to bring it to pass. In Psalm 31, verse 15, the psalmist said, my times are in thy hand. Wow, there's a truth that'll alter our entire lives. If we come to understand my times are in God's hands. Now I know what I want and I'm working towards this goal and there's nothing wrong with goals in life and aspirations of what we think God wants us to do. But we need to also understand that sometimes those expectations may not come to pass. God may change the direction. Something may take place that we have no control over, and God may alter our plans completely, but when he does, that's all right, because my times are in thy hands. I've often thought about Romans 8, 28, such a familiar verse. We quote it all the time, but I really wonder sometimes if we grasp the great truth of it. You know what the verse says, and we know There again, I find it interesting that he said, and we know. He did not say, and we see, or it makes sense to us, or this is what we really were counting on. He said, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. He did not say all things are good. Doesn't say that at all. But he does say that God is able to work all things together for His good. God is able. He works things together for good. I'm simply trying to get you to understand something this morning. The Bible reminds us again in our text verse that hope deferred maketh the heart sick. Many of you this morning are suffering from heart sickness, anger, resentment, bitterness already. I mean, we're a week into school and some of you now are so discouraged you don't know what to do. And most of it centers around the matter of unfulfilled expectations. And the bottom line is that most of those expectations were probably unrealistic to begin with. Because they were not founded in the Word of God. They were founded in what we wanted things, how we wanted things to be. It was founded in the way we expected things to turn out. And yet all the time, God is reminding us over and over and over again that God's way is the best way. But it's also sometimes a messy way. Sometimes it's a discouraging way because it alters everything that we thought was going to be true in our lives. God's way is the best way. Now, let me ask you this before we close. What happens when your expectations are fulfilled? You know, there is another part of that verse. There is another phrase that's found there. The Bible says in verse 12, hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. Fulfilled expectations bring joy and peace to our hearts and lives. And we can know fulfilled expectations when those expectations are based upon the principles and the truths of the word of God, and not simply on our own wants and our own desires. Now we have to choose how we want to live our lives. We can go through our life, now listen, we can go through our lives on our own, charting our own course. And every time that something doesn't go the way we want it to go, we can become discouraged and defeated and bitter. Or we can go through our lives trusting in God, letting our lives be in His hands, letting God direct our very steps on a daily basis. And when the desire cometh, it's a tree of life. It's revival. It's renewal. It's a tree of life. Did you notice in our text that he said hope deferred? He did not say hope denied or hope forgotten. Sometimes our expectations, now listen to what I'm gonna say. Sometimes our expectations are also God's expectations for us, God's plan for us, but just not right now. I've talked about some of the characters in scriptures, but let me remind you about another very familiar one, that man Joseph. We often think about what happened to him when he was in prison, and you remember he helped the butler get out. And what'd the butler do? First thing he did was he forgot about Joseph. He didn't tell anybody about him. Can you imagine how that must have hurt Joseph? And here he helped this guy, and the last thing he said to him was, hey, don't forget me when you get out. No, hey, I can never forget you. You're the man that got me out of this place. But he did. Let me ask you something. If Joseph would have got out of prison at that point, what do you think would have happened? Well, first of all, there would have been no reason for Pharaoh to have brought him in and for Pharaoh to become acquainted with him. If Pharaoh would have said, release him, it would have just been, get him out of here, I don't want to see him any longer. Which would have meant Joseph would have been put right back out into society. And if Joseph had been put back out into society, he would have had to dealt with Potiphar. And probably Joseph would have ended up having to flee Egypt because Potiphar, I'm sure, would have made his life miserable over all that had transpired before that. So if the butler had remembered Joseph when he said he would, then Joseph's life would have played out entirely different. But two full years later, when God brought to his mind about Joseph, And when Joseph actually came out of prison at that time, Joseph stepped from being in the prison cell to being the second most powerful man in all of Egypt within a matter of hours. I mean, we're not talking about a long process. I mean, within a matter of hours, he went from wearing prison garb to wearing the garb of the second most powerful ruler in the entire nation. Because that was God's timing. Young people, listen to me. Hope deferred. Sometimes things have to be put off. Doesn't mean it's not the will of God. Just means not the will of God for right now. Doesn't mean it's not what God has for you. God just doesn't have for you right now. But if we will be patient, and if we will wait upon the Lord, and we will continue to put him first in our life, and we will continue to trust in the Lord with all of our heart, and lean not to our own understanding, in all of our ways acknowledge him, then in God's timing, and in God's way, He will direct our paths. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick. Are your heart sick this morning? Is it maybe because some expectations that you had were not fulfilled the way you thought they ought to be? Young people, listen, the problem is not with God. The problem is that our expectations were unrealistic. There was no basis for them other than just what we wanted. But when we bring our expectations back in line with the Word of God, We can know that not only is hope deferred, making the heart sick, but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. You've been listening to a message from Pensacola Christian College Chapel. You're welcome to pass this sermon along to others. Please don't charge for it or alter it without written permission from Pensacola Christian College. For additional information about PCC, visit us online at pcci.edu. Pensacola Christian College, empowering Christian leaders to influence the world for Christ.