A mustard seed of faith, a truckload of EXPECTATION!

He asked me if I wanted to go for a ride. “Sure!” I replied, not having a clue where we were heading, but I slipped on my shoes anyway, grabbed my purse and ran out the door.

Before I’d even finished putting on my lip liner we were there: the convenience store at the gas station just up the road. He knew exactly what he was going there for and he fully expected to get it. Me? I was just
going for a ride.

Standing in line at the cashier, he turned and asked if I wanted to get anything. In a flustered moment and with clumsy uncertainty I replied, “No, I didn’t come here expecting to get something…”

No sooner had I uttered the words, when Holy Spirit reminded me of James 1:6: But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to tell you, for a doubtful mind will be as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind; and every decision you then make will be uncertain, as you turn first this way, and then that. If you don’t ask with faith, don’t expect the Lord to give you any solid answer.

It turns out I did get something… A Word from the Lord (…and a cuppachino) ha-ha

I spent most of my life not believing that God wanted to give me anything good. I tried to just be grateful for what I had and leave it at that. I perceived that as humility, but the truth is that I did not believe that I was good enough or deserving and therefore I did not believe what God’s Word says - that He wants to bless me. In truth, with all my heart, I couldn’t deny that I also wanted good things, and in a desperate moment in my early twenties I hit rock bottom and cried out to the Lord. God helped me to realize that I was the one standing in the way of my own blessing. That day my life changed in a big way!

The more I confessed what God’s Word says about my worth in Christ, and His desire to bless me because He loves me, the more I started having an expectation for what God could do. And as my expectation and faith increased, the more I started seeing my life change!

I heard Joyce Meyer speak of how God had provided for her in tough times and, like her, I determined that, if I was a daughter of the Most High God, I was going to be a kept woman! My God has no shortage of resources!

Initially, when I started my expectation journey, I felt so guilty to expect anything. On the inside of me a war raged between the way I used to think and the way I wanted to think. Every time I took a stand for what God’s word says, I felt arrogant, materialistic and proud. And when the blessings of God became visible in my life other people called me those things, but I had made up my mind that God’s Word was going to be the highest authority in my life and I stuck to it. I was determined to not end my life in the same place that it had begun.

For a good few years I had seen things change for good. Then, slowly but surely, I had started to encounter hardship and, even though it did not affect me so much materially, eventually it had started to eat away at the boldness and confidence with which I had once trusted the Lord.

More recently things have changed rather drastically in my life and trusting the Lord has become more crucial than perhaps ever before.

One of the first things that I noticed is that I had lost my boldness to ask. I’ve started feeling, “Oh, what’s the use?” I’ve been looking into that.

Then I noticed that I had lost my hope. I had come to struggle to believe that God wants to bless me again, raise me up again. Instead I’d come to feel defeated and hopeless. I was starting to think on a ‘barely-getting-by’ level.

Slowly but surely Holy Spirit has been helping me to put those building blocks back in position, and so lately we’ve been looking at the issues of faith and speaking with caution (as you’ll have what you say!). And today I’m reminded of having expectation! I ask myself:

·         Do I even have expectation?

·         If so, what are my expectations?

·         If it doesn’t align with what God says, what adjustments must be made? (We must remember that we play an active role in creating our reality by the thoughts that we think and the words that we speak. “Where the mind goes, the man follows.” ~ Joyce Meyer paraphrasing Proverbs 23:7 - For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.)

From personal experience I want to tell you today: If nothing is what you expect, then that’s exactly what you’ll get! I don’t know about you, but ‘nothing’ is not on my list.

I am a firm believer of writing things down and displaying it where I can be reminded of it often - the promises that God has given me, the principles that I need to stay mindful of and yes! My EXPECTATIONS! - What do I trust God for?

What are you trusting God for today?

For those of you who have asked God for something and you need Him to come through for you – do you expect it, or is your whole life as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind; and every decision uncertain, as you turn first this way, and then that?  

Today I want to encourage you: GOD CAN! What is impossible with man is possible for God. (Matthew 19:26) His Word never returns void, but always accomplish what He sends it out to do (Isaiah 55:11) – so speak it! Believe it when He says that He will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [He will] not, [He will] not, [He will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax His hold on you)! [Assuredly not!] (Hebrews 13:5) Speak those things that be not just as though they were! (Hebrews 11:1 & Romans 4:17) He works all things together for good for those who love Him and are fitting into His plans. (Romans 8:28)

Matthew 17:19, 20 - The followers came to Jesus when He was alone. They said, “Why were we not able to put the demon out?” “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible. ”

Psalm 27:14 (Amp) – Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.

Approach His throne with new boldness today - with a "GOD CAN!" attitude - and start having expectation again that HE WILL!