Grace For The Journey

The Bible says in Psalm 62:5,

“My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.”

One of the common denominators that comes up in many pastoral counseling sessions is “unmet” expectations.  The primary reason for this is due to the fact that . . .

We tend to put our expectations

Upon someone other than God.

Let me make something perfectly clear right up front:

No one other than God Omnipotent

Can bear the weight of our expectations.

Oh, the world will make multiplied promises,

But they simply cannot produce.

David knew this truth and centered his expectations on the Eternal One.

When our expectation is from Him,

We are never left with an unmet expectation.

 When we set our desires on nothing less

Than God’s perfect will in our imperfect lives,

Our expectations will not only be met,

They will be abundantly exceeded.

Jesus never had an unmet expectation because every moment of His life was spent in the eager expectation of the Father’s perfect will.  His life of prayer and constant communion with His Father caused Jesus to seek and savor God’s eternal plan for His life, which met His every expectation.

Here is the key

To unlocking the door

Leading to never having

Another unmet expectation.

It is not in lowering your expectations;

Rather,

It is in raising your expectation to God.

God has promised to meet your every need, but not your every want.  To be sure, God meets many of our wants along the way, but the promise is for our needs: The Bible says in Philippians 4:19, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

God has never broken that promise

To anyone at any time.

He hears our prayers and answers them according to His plan and purpose for our lives.  As I often remind the members of the congregation God has blessed me to pastor, sometimes God says “Yes,” and our expectation has been met; sometimes God says “Wait,” and our expectation has been met; and sometimes God says “No,” and our expectation has been met.

How can it be that our expectation is met

When God’s answer is “Wait” or “No”?

Because when our expectation is from God,

We receive His response with joy and gladness,

Whatever it is, because we trust that

Our God always works in our lives

For our ultimate good.

Where does this find you today?  Have you been dealing with some unmet expectations?  If so, then you can be sure your expectation is not from Him.  You have put your expectation in something others than God, and it simply cannot support the weight of your expectations.

When your expectations are from Him, they will never go unmet.  That is true not only in this life, but in the next life also.  Heavenly glory awaits you and the joyful expectation of hearing the words, “Well done.”  If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, your room has already been prepared, but the door has not yet been opened for you to enter . . . which means that God still has work for you to do here!  So, do that work for His glory, and you can be assured that your expectations will be abundantly exceeded.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”