Let me ask you a few quick questions: Do you think we should have great expectations for our lives - expectations of well-being and flourishing and happiness - or do you think we should be satisfied with lives that do not reflect these kinds of qualities? Should we expect our family life to be joyful, friendships to be satisfying, and work-life to feel purposeful? Or should we accept something other than those things? Is it better to expect more of life or should we expect less of life? Infinitely more important, what does God want for us?
There are those who say that people are happier when they expect less. For instance, the Netherlands frequently shows up in surveys as one of the happiest countries in the world. When you explore why the Dutch are happy, however, you discover it is in part because they do not expect much of life and are therefore rarely disappointed. There is a well-known Dutch phrase that captures this expect less mentality. It’s Doe Normaal, which is loosely translated as “just be normal” or “act normal.” This expression, which is often used in Dutch culture, is to chastise a person who expects too much or who is going after more and better. People will say to that person, “Doe Normaal.” Doe Normaal captures an approach to life that discourages wanting too much.
I first encountered this phrase while visiting the Hague, the governmental capital of the Netherlands. We stood in front of the amazingly unimpressive Dutch Memorial to the Constitution while a tour guide explained how the “just be normal” mentality had influenced even the design and building of monuments like the uninspiring one we were looking at. She also opined that this is why you don’t hear much about Dutch food or other aspects of Dutch culture. Doe Normaal had become a cultural code that discouraged reaching too high, dreaming too big, and expecting more.
I readily concede that this is most assuredly an overgeneralization of an entire people. I respect the Dutch and admire much about their history and culture. Yet I can’t help but think that not expecting much stifles the God created longings of the human soul; longings for inspiration, and beauty, and more of good things rather than less. When I visit the Lincoln Memorial or the other memorials in Washington, DC, or walk through the great European cathedrals, or interact with great works of art in beautiful museums, I’m glad that somebody decided not to just do normal. I’m glad that someone thought more, better, and grander.
I believe that this desire for something great and beautiful and meaningful is rooted in the fact that we were created in the image of God and that God has high expectations for what our lives should be. This is why we reflect on what God wants when we want more. I’m not talking about wanting more material things, at least not primarily. I’m talking about wanting more of life as it was meant to be. The kind of life that Jesus offers and that He called “life in all its fullness” [1] or “more and better life than (we) ever dreamed of.”[2]
One way to get at this is to say that God has higher thoughts about our lives than we do. When we think higher thoughts about our lives, we are aligning our thinking with God’s thinking. We are thinking more and better, not less and worse. Or just normal. What about God is normal anyway?
Let’s focus on a famous and amazing prophecy found in the writings of Isaiah. This was written to people some 500 years before Christ, who were in “less than” circumstances. They were in exile in Babylon, some 800 miles away from their promised land. From what God wanted for them. But God tells them that this separation from what He had promised was only a temporary dislocation and that He was going to restore their fortunes and bring them back to life as it was supposed to be.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace...” - Isaiah 55:8-12 NIV
Three Beyond Normal Truths
1. God has higher thoughts about you than you do. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
In my new book, The Lord Give You Peace: A 28-Day Journey To Thrive In God’s Shalom, I write that “I used to hear that God‘s thoughts were higher than my thoughts and I would think, God is really smart, and I am really stupid. While that may be true, at least part of the idea here is that God’s thoughts about me, and my future are higher than my thoughts about me and my future.”[3] You may be in a place in your life where it is difficult to imagine more rather than less. I encourage you to leave your low thoughts and enter God’s thoughts.
Those people in Babylonian exile had a difficult time believing that they could live the lives God had dreamed for them. But he had higher thoughts than they did, and higher ways to bring those thoughts to pass. And I believe that He has higher thoughts about you and me, and what our lives can be, than we have about ourselves.
2. God wants to, and will, flourish you. (Isaiah 55:10-11)
God tells us that His Word, which is an expression of His thoughts, makes things bud and flourish. The word “flourish” in this passage refers to a plant springing healthily up out of the ground. But God is saying this in reference to His plans for His people. In another place, we are told that “the righteous will flourish like a palm tree”[4] or “the righteous will thrive like a palm tree”.[5] To flourish is to thrive in every dimension of life. To flourish is to experience life as a constantly growing, always improving, ever-increasing, more and better, well-being in every dimension of life.
Here is how a flourishing person might talk about their life: “Emotionally, it’s not just that I’m not anxious or sad…it’s that I am experiencing a lot of joy right now and have a deep sense of satisfaction. Physically, it’s not just that when I go to the doctor, she says ‘all your vital signs are good,’ but more than that, my body is becoming more fit. I’m eating well, I’m exercising, I’m getting stronger, I’m resting well, and I have more energy. My business is not just paying its bills, it's booming, expanding, hiring people, getting better at fulfilling our mission, making more money, and making more of a contribution to the world around us. My marriage isn’t just enduring. Rather, we are experiencing growth and affection and deepening our relational intimacy. We are having more fun together than ever before and sharing our dreams with each other. Mentally, I’m having such positive thoughts, new ideas are coming to me, I’m understanding how to address some of the problems I’ve been facing, and I’m more creative than I’ve ever been. Financially, I’m not just barely getting by. I have plenty. I’m moving toward financial freedom. I’m saving, I’m investing, my investments are growin,g and I’m giving generously. My relationship with God is better than it’s ever been. I have a wonderful communion with Him. I’m learning so much from reading Scripture and reading about Scripture. By God’s grace, I am flourishing.”
God’s Word will make you flourish!
3. God will give you peace. (Isaiah 55:12-13)
This section ends with the promise that God’s people will “go out in joy and be led forth in peace.”[6] This word “peace” is translated from the Hebrew word “shalom.” Shalom is much more than peace, as the absence of conflict or freedom from anxiety. Shalom is about everything working together in our lives, the way God designed life to work. The Message translates this passage like this: “So you’ll go out in joy, you’ll be led into a whole and complete life.”[7] This is the peace the Lord gives.
The peace the Lord gives is about more than the absence of negative things; it’s also about the abundant presence of positive things. This is what we should expect in our lives. This is beyond normal. And this is what we should want.
[1] John 10:10 GNT
[2] John 10:10 MSG
[3] The Lord Give You Peace: A 28-Day Journey to Thrive in God’s Shalom, Terry A. Smith, pg. 42
[4] Psalm 92:12 NIV
[5] Psalm 92:12 CSB
[6] Isaiah 55:12 NIV
[7] Isaiah 55:12 MSG
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/BartekSzewczyk
A gifted communicator and cofounder of The New York City Leadership Center (now Movement.org), Terry speaks in a variety of national and international venues, inspiring others to discover and pursue the life God dreams for them.
He is the best-selling author of The Lord Give You Peace: A 28-Day Journey to Thrive in God’s Shalom; The Lord Bless You: A 28-Day Journey to Experience God’s Extravagant Blessings; The Hospitable Leader: Create Environments Where People and Dreams Flourish; and Live Ten: Jumpstart the Best Version of Your Life. Terry and his wife, Sharon, have been married for forty-two years. They have three adult children—Sumerr, Caleb, and Christian—along with two daughters-in-law, Lindsay and Amanda, and grandson, Wolfgang.
