“It’s one Edenic question . . . history’s first good question: Where are you? And perhaps in response, all of us through history have had our own EPS — an internal Expectational Positioning System. . . . An Expectational Positioning System has never failed to position the soul in a hell of its own making — with expectations to at least keep pace with, or better yet surpass, someone else, anyone else.”- Ann Voskamp
“And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ “- Genesis 3:8-9 (ESV)
Ann Voskamp moves on in Chapter 1 of WayMaker as she observes that expectations come with inherent power to slay any relationship. Especially with God. Above all, we position ourselves with expectations of:
- where we think we should be on the road
- where that road should lead
- how we’d be loved
- how long we’d all have together
- the way everything should work out in the end
God questioned Adam using only three words – Where are you? A short, life-changing question. However, in Hebrew, it’s only one word: ayekah. Ann explains:
“When an all-knowing God asks a question — ‘Where are you?‘ — isn’t He asking so you will begin to know the answer?. . . God isn’t asking for Adam’s or anyone’s coordinates — He’s asking me to seek out and coordinate my own heart with His. . . . He asks you where you are in your life because He wants you to name the place, see the place, acknowledge it, sit with it — even befriend it.” (emphasis Ann’s)
In conclusion, Ann notes, ayekah means that God understands everything going on inside. Most significantly, He doesn’t want a soul to hide.
Today’s question: How would you describe your Expectational Positioning System? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “The fear of fully feeling”
