Arthur Marian is a Brazilian gymnast who just won the bronze medal in floor exercise at Rio Olympics. You should’ve seen how happy he was! He fell down on the ground and cried uncontrollably when it was announced that he had won bronze.

Simone Biles is an American gymnast who also won a bronze medal on the balance beam today. But she didn’t seem happy at all. She tried to smile but you can see her disappointment.

Two athletes won exactly the same medal – bronze. But why were their reactions so different? Arthur acted like he was the happiest person on earth, while Simone, well, not so much?

Expectations. That’s what it is. Arther didn’t expect to win a model at all and yet he did. Therefore, he was extremely happy. Simone, on the other hand, expected to win gold. But she won bronze. Therefore, she wasn’t happy (At least in comparison to Arthur). It really is not the outcome that determines whether we will be happy or not. It is our expectations.

Then I thought about what WE expect out of life and how that dictates our mood. As Americans, we expect certain rights and privileges. We expect to have a certain standard of living – such as a house, a car, food, education, freedom, etc. When these things are provided for us, we are somewhat happy. It is what we expect. But watch out if any one of these things are not given to us, we get mad!

There are millions of people on this earth who would be so happy to have any one of the things that we take for granted. Why? Because to them, those things are not expected. They are privileges rather than expectations. Therefore, if they were to obtain any one of the things that we take for granted, they’d be grateful and happy.

As Christians, we know that what we should expect is death and hell. (“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23) That is what we deserved. Not only did we not deserve the American dream, but we deserved eternal existence in darkness and torment for rejecting God. Yet, God in His sovereignty and love, gave us eternal life in His Son. How happy should we be?

When we become unhappy, it’s because we have forgotten what we deserved. Instead, we have conformed to the world and adapted its way of thinking – “Why shouldn’t I have it all?”

Remind yourself of the gospel: You are more wicked than you ever condemned yourself for. Yet you are more loved than you have ever imagined.

PH