"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him" (I Corinthians 2:9 NLT).
Expectation
is a powerful motivator. Every living being should expect that something better will come along. When we’re
expecting something new, we can endure extreme circumstances. If we want to
live a large life, then we must have consistent and high expectations.
Many people
find it hard to expect anything big from God because they think they’re going
to offend God by asking for too much. Others
feel they don’t deserve anything good. Truth is, our lives often directly
reflect our expectations.
We have a
cat named Rue. She’s one of the four kittens my children rescued from the snowy
weather. Now, Rue is almost two years old. Every morning when I get up, I make
myself a cup of tea. Without fail, Rue comes up
to me rubbing against my legs, expecting to get a treat by crying with her
pathetic voice. I love Rue’s attitude of faith. Every single morning she gets
up expecting! There have been times when I didn’t want to give her anything but
was moved by her expectation; I’ve been compelled to give her treats. Like Rue,
it will do us all good if we wake up each morning with expectancy.
God often
meets us at the point of our expectation.
Often we
lower our expectations in life because of a major setback or a series of
setbacks we experience. I don’t want to minimize your experience but unless we
learn to shake off our negative experiences, we won’t be able to enjoy all that
God has in store for us.
A negative
experience can be your best teacher or it can be your worst enemy. How we deal
with a negative experience will determine the quality of life we’ll enjoy.
Successful
people know how to put a negative experience behind them quickly and move
forward with positive expectations in life.
In 2 Kings
chapter 4, there’s a famous story about the Prophet
Elisha, a widow, and her two boys. After the death of her husband, the poor
widow almost starved to death. When Elisha asked for something to eat, she
obeyed and fed the man of God. In a gesture of gratitude, the Prophet asked the
widow to borrow as many jars as she could from her neighbors. In a miraculous
act of God’s power, the small jar of oil that she had kept pouring out oil and
filling containers of various size. Here’s what I want you to see. The oil from
the jar kept flowing until the widow’s son couldn’t find another vessel to pour
oil into. In today’s context, we can say the oil ran out at the same moment the
expectation was gone. The oil continued to flow up to the point there was an
expectation of a miracle from God.
In the same
way, could it be that our miracles have clogged up because of our lack of
expectations? Needless to say, people will disappoint you. Even those who you
love and are close to you will let you down at times. But if we learn to put
our hopes and expectations in God, He will never let us down. Jesus said to the
centurion, "Go! Let it be done just
as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that moment”
(Matthew 8:13 NIV).
Get up each
morning expecting something special from God. When you stand in front of the
bathroom mirror, say out loud, “Something
goooood is going to happen to me today!” Expect people to be good to you.
Expect your children to excel in life. Expect the lights to stay green and the
traffic to open up for you until you cross. At work, expect your boss to like
you. Expect preferential treatment. Expect customers to flock to you. Expect
your business to prosper. Expect the healing to spring forth today. Expect your
strained marriage to be turned around. Expect each and every day to be
miraculous. Your life will directly correlate to the expectations of your heart.
So why expect small things when you can have big things and become a blessing
to others? Turn up your expectation – that’s all you’re going to get! I pray
and declare that you’ll achieve every goal, every purpose, and every dream God
put in your heart. Something goooood is going to happen to you today!
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