Writing a Different Future #11 – Be Expectant
Expectancy characterizes our spiritual journey.
Abraham expected God to fulfill his promise to bless him and all peoples on earth through him (Genesis 12:1-3). When God tested him in offering Isaac as a sacrifice, Abraham held on to God’s promise, even expecting God to raise Isaac from the dead if necessary (Hebrews 11:17-19).
David, in his youth, expected God’s power to overcome the giant Goliath who stood before him. The Lord had rescued David from the paw of a lion and the paw of a bear, therefore the Lord would rescue him from Israel’s enemy (1 Samuel 17:37).
People would gather around Jesus, welcoming his teaching and anticipating healing and deliverance. “Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him” (Luke 8:40).
The early disciples waited in anticipation, with prayer, for the promised Holy Spirit – that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit would come upon them and they would be his witnesses (Acts 1:8).
Expectancy expresses faith. We don’t sit back helplessly, watching problems accumulate, feeling out of control, hiding from life. We learn that “what we need God has – in infinite supply” (Dallas Willard).
Therefore we run forward. Our Lord Jesus will do great and mighty things in and through us. Our all sufficient God will meet us personally and powerfully through his Holy Spirit.
We live the realization that we are the very evidence that God is real, Jesus is alive, and the Holy Spirit is working in power.
We step forward in faith believing that through the power of the risen Christ, through his Holy Spirit enabling us, we can overthrow the claims of sin, live above our physical distress, receive emotional healing, experience deliverance, and triumph over the problems that rob us of our God-given heritage.
Listen to the news and you’ll hear a negative tilt in almost every story. Listen to God and you’ll hear a message of faith and hope. “In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly” (Psalm 5:3).
I wonder if there is a lack of expectancy in your life. Perhaps now is the time to make a change and cultivate expectancy.
~ Pastor Dave
