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Living with Expectation
Do you ever feel a sense of doubt? Are you ever unsure of what will happen next? If so, you’re not alone. The Scriptures are filled with stories of people who lived in fear and doubted God. Doubt seems to be a natural emotion. At least it comes natural for me! I’m learning to not beat myself up over my doubt, but I definitely don’t want to stay there, either. In the midst of my wondering and questioning, I also want to live with a deep sense of expectation. Even though I can’t figure everything out, I want to believe, more and more, in a God who is at work. I want my eyes to be open to see his power and his love at work. I want to live with greater expectation.
- A couple stories come to mind. In Acts 3 and 4, we find Peter and John approaching a man who’d been crippled for over 40 years. They simply approach him and say, “in the name of Jesus, walk.” That’s it. As they were on their way to a prayer meeting, walking into the temple, they seized an opportunity and expected that God would act. I don’t think it was their expectation that made the man walk, but it was their expectation that moved them to reach out. They had an expectation that God would move.
- Joshua and the wall of Jericho is another example of expectation that comes to mind
(Joshua 5 and 6). Without weapons, they overcame great odds. Why? Their expectation
didn’t cause them victory. The bible doesn’t teach a theology of name-
it- and- claim- it. But their expectation moved them to act...to participate with God in something huge.
For Reflection...
- How much do you live with expectation in God to come through?
- What are you hoping for in God these days?
- How easily do you give up believing when things don’t work out as you wish they would?
- How is doubt related to discouragement?
- What would it look like if you lived with a greater sense of expectation?
- Read through the passages mentioned above, and ask God to give you a greater expectation of him coming through for you. Spend some time releasing the results into his hands for he alone knows what’s best for us and for others.
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
This is what the ancients were commended for.” -
May we live with greater expectation
in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
more now than ever before.