I Expected More | Offended | Part 2 | Jerry Flowers

Key Points

• Unmet or mismatched expectations can be as spiritually damaging as disbelief, often leading to offense when God answers prayers in unexpected ways.
• The sermon emphasizes cultivating spiritual maturity and self-control to avoid reactionary living and to become "unbothered" by external stimuli.
• Using the story of Naaman from 2 Kings 5, the message illustrates how offense arises when God's method of help (e.g., healing) differs from our preconceived, often entitled, expectations.
• True trust in God involves submitting our expectations to His will, viewing unexpected outcomes not as disappointments but as God ordering our steps.
• Unsubmitted expectations can sabotage peace, leading to underlying frustration, irritation, and offense, which are symptoms of a heart grieving over unmet desires.

Summary

This sermon, part two of a series on offense, centers on the theme "I expected more," arguing that unmet or mismatched expectations can be as spiritually damaging as outright disbelief. The speaker posits that offense often arises not because God refuses to act, but because His methods—such as the timing, pace, or manner of answering prayers—differ from our preconceived and sometimes entitled scripts. This blocks us from recognizing His work and leads to emotional and spiritual turmoil.

The core biblical example is Naaman from 2 Kings 5. Though a great commander, he had leprosy. When the prophet Elisha instructed him to wash seven times in the Jordan River to be healed, Naaman became angry and offended because he expected a more dramatic, personal intervention. His expectation, unchecked by trust, nearly caused him to reject his healing. The sermon uses this to warn that we can miss God's blessings by idolizing our own expected methods over His sovereign plans.

The message calls for spiritual maturity and self-control, framed as the "ability to be unbothered." This fruit of the Spirit prevents reactionary living and helps believers maintain Christ-like character despite external provocations. The speaker declares a prophetic theme for the year: a move toward spirit-led self-control where distractions lose power and purpose becomes clear.

Ultimately, the sermon encourages submitting all expectations to God's will, attaching a "nevertheless" to our desires. Trust is defined as choosing to see unexpected outcomes not as disappointments but as God ordering our steps. The speaker warns that unsubmitted expectations sabotage peace, often manifesting as persistent frustration, irritation, or offense—surface symptoms of a heart grieving over unmet desires from childhood to the present. The solution is to strengthen our "spiritual immune system" by finding joy in God alone, making us the hardest people in the world to offend.