Expect?

When you are sick and pray to feel better…what do you expect?

When you are in finacial trouble and you pray for a blessing…what do you expect?

When you are ready to give up and you pray for a miracle…what do you expect?

We all expect something in every situation.  When it’s raining and we walk outside we expect to get wet.  When we trip, we expect to fall.  But what if we didn’t; what if we didn’t get wet in the rain, what if we didn’t fall when we tripped?  What if we threw all our our expectations out the window?  The truth is we already have.

We only expect what we already know.  We know our car will start when we turn the key (unless it’s a junker).  We know when we tip a cup over the contents will spill.  When we don’t know what will happen, then we don’t know what to expect.  The problem is we have stopped expecting the unknown.  We have thrown our expectations out the window and are satisfied with what we know.  It takes no effort to expect the car to start, because based on our experiences it will.  So we aren’t really expecting anything at all, we are only experiencing what we already know.

So what’s the point?

We need to start expecting more.

What if God said “Hey, take your son and go sacrifice him on a mountain.”  Well for Abraham He did:

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.

Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.

He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together,

(Genesis 22:1-7)

Abraham knew that God had promised him a son and he knew that God would make his descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky.  Notice he said we not I will come back to you.  Abraham expected God to intervene and miraculously save Isaac, even in his response to Isaac:

Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

(Genesis 22:7-8)

“God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Abraham was expecting!  God already said that human sacrifice was wrong, so Abraham was expecting God to show up and provide a lamb for the sacrifice. So Abraham continues:

And they came to the place which God had told him of. And Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

(Genesis 22:9-10)

Abraham’s faith in God caused expectations despite his human experiences.  If he relied on his own knowledge and experiences then Isaac would have died (or Abraham would have been disobedient) because Abraham wouldn’t have been expecting God to reach down and SUPERNATURALLY alter our know experiences.  But God did reach down for Abraham:

But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.

“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.

(Genesis 22:11-13)

That is the awesome thing about our God, He’s Supernatural.  We can expect Him to answer prayer.  We can expect Him to transform our lives.  We can expect Him to bless us.  We can expect God to show up.

The question is, will we?

What area of your life do you need to Expect God to work in?

 

Advertisement