There are some things going on in my life right now that made me think about when my girls were younger. Sometimes I had to be gone for a period of time. When I was gone there were two things that I could expect every time I returned. One was my girls would come running through the house screaming, “daddy’s home daddy’s home” and then jump up to give me a hug and kiss. (Yes Susan was glad I was home too, but the girls ran faster than her.) The second was waiting for me in the backyard. My two dogs would sit at the kennel fence expecting me to feed them and pat them on the head.
As I was thinking about this Romans 8:19 came to mind. ”The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.”
We seem to get excited about many things in life and wait with great expectation. But so often we forget to wait expectantly for God and what He is doing. We are instructed to wait in eager expectation for Jesus to be revealed. We should long for that day when we are face to face with Him.
I find myself waiting in expectation for all kinds of things, from the newest movie to come out to a trip that is planned for a month from now. But, I often find that I forget to expect of God. This is dangerous as our expectation of Jesus and the fulfillment of that expectation is what helps build our faith. Waiting expectantly for God is ever so important. Psalm 5:3 says “In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.”
For those of you that don’t know I am transitioning from the pastor of student ministry to the pastor of service and outreach. I am excited to see what that change in position here at Grace will bring. I am hoping for God to reveal His plan for new opportunities in ministry. I also am hoping, no I am expecting that God will do great things in and through our church as we seek to impact our community.
To close I would like to quote some lines from Steven Curtis Chapman’s song “Great expectations”:
And I’ve been invited as a son
Oh I, I’ve been invited to come and …..
Believe the unbelievable
Receive the inconceivable
And see beyond my wildest imagination
Lord, I come with great expectations
Try coming before the Lord with great expectations and see what happens. God loves to provide for us especially when it exceeds our greatest expectations.
Here are a few verses to look up, that will hopefully help you come before God with great expectations;
Ephesians .:2-21
Matthew 7.7-11
Ephesians 1.18-19
Jeremiah 29.11
Jeremiah 33.3
I pray that God will surprise you as He exceeds your wildest expectations!
Pastor Sean