The discipline of expectation, and faith, is to not define it in such a way that we have a ten point plan of how God is going to make our expectations come to pass.
A verse that people love to quote when it comes to what we can expect of God is Eph 3:20:
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…” (NKJV).
We usually focus on the exceedingly abundantly part, because that’s what we want: exceeding abundance for all our things and days. But focus on the last half for a few moments:
“According to the power that works in us.” It’s the stuff that God does in us while things happen to us, and while we make things happen with our own agency, that is the key.
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Yes, of course, I'm believing for miracles. Things like peace, equality, unity, healing, provision; no more war and violence and terror, no more starving, thirsty and dying. I have great expectations for my future: the health of my kids and my marriage, my own physical and mental health; I want a bigger house so I can hear myself think, I want to be able to pay for my kid's braces, I expect that things are going to get better.
But I also know that God expects me to be a part of it, a “rooter up of mountains” like we talked about in Part 4 – a participant and problem solver in my faith and expectations. I can pray and believe for God to feed my neighbors, but if I’ve got food in my fridge and money in my bank account, I kinda think God answers my prayer with: “Well, what are you waiting for?” (the power that is at work within us.)
And then above it all, whether the things I have faith and hope and expectations for come to pass or not, I can expect that the power of divine love will be at work in me through it all, offering me its generous, miraculous gifts.
The gift of expectation is that it turns you and I into seekers. Someone who follows the path, asks the questions, doesn’t quit (except to have a good old rest which is perfectly fine), and seeks all the way through into the heart of life.
Which rarely turns out the way we expect, but if we look hard enough, we’ll find that exceeding abundance in miraculous and surprising ways we never thought possible. It won’t look like what we expect, but that’s the beauty of it.
Written by Liz Milani
Thank u I have never really understood that scripture..thanks for a little more revelation…??
Thanks for explaining what this scripture means. This was very helpful.