For many years now, I’ve heard stories from friends, read countless social media posts, and heard it talked about from the pulpit…”God gave me a word for the year.” Then I would listen as each person unpacked what it meant to them that God gave them a word. Well, why did I never receive a word from the Lord for my life? For the year ahead? Goodness sake, for the DAY ahead!
Simple answer.
I never asked for one.
Yeah, I know…kind of a “duh” moment. Honestly, I never asked for it before because I thought it was just the trend of the decade. Everyone was doing it and I didn’t want to follow along with the latest “Christian thing to do.” If I’m really and truly being honest with you though, I also never asked for God to give me a word because I was afraid of what it would be and what would be required of me to live into that word He had for me. I’m guessing y’all might be feeling the same way.
So…what to do?
Pray…and ask!
I John 5:14 is quite clear about this and says, Now this is the confidence we have before Him: Whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
There is so much in the Christian arena that has it backwards about asking the Lord for something in prayer. There is absolutely NOTHING in the Bible that tells us that all we have to do is ask and we get whatever we want. This is making God into a wish-giving genie and that is definitely who the Lord is. The verse above says that whatever we ask that is in line with the plan and purpose He has for our life, that is what He will give. And when we are close to Him, when we lay down our wants and needs at the feet of His throne, then the depths of our heart, mind, and soul are completely immersed in desiring what HE wants for our life…and we in turn want that too.
In January of this year, I went trembling before the Lord and asked Him to give me a word for the year of 2017. Immediately I heard God breathe the word “Expectancy” into my heart. “Did I hear You correctly Lord? Expectancy? Oh man…what do you mean by that? As long as you don’t mean that I’m literally going to be ‘expecting’ then I’m good with your plan.”
{I’m in no way diminishing the joy of being pregnant and bringing a child into this world…we have three daughters and they are 23, 21, and 17…our oldest is getting married in November…and I’m 48 years old…that would totally freak me out to have a baby at this stage in my life!}
So, expectancy…okay…
The only questions from above that I felt I had a clear answer about was ~ Yes! I did indeed hear the Lord correctly. And No! Not a literal baby would be joining our family. Whew…okay…lets roll!
This word has lingered in my heart all year long so far and every time something wonderful was about to happen or actually happened, I would smile up at my Father and thank Him. But I felt like I wasn’t getting the full gist of what God intended with this ‘word of the year’. I kept feeling like something is coming but I have no idea what that is.
I’m a planner. I like to make lists. I like to cross off tasks from my lists. I am known to add things to my list that I accomplished just so that I can cross it off my list! To walk around with a sense of expectancy every day is actually kind of frustrating and a bit mentally exhausting because I find myself In a constant state of waiting.
I don’t like to wait. I really hate waiting. No, like, I really really hate it!
But that my friend is a HUGE part of being expectant.
The Psalms are filled with wonderful verses to encourage us in the wait…
27:24 ~ Wait for the Lord; be strong and courageous. Wait for the Lord.
33:20 ~ We wait for Yahweh; He is our help and shield.
39:7 ~ Now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You.
40:1 ~ I waited patiently for the Lord, and He turned to me and heard my cry for help.
130:5 ~ I wait for Yahweh; I wait and put my hope in His word.
So much of our life is spent waiting and expecting.
You take a test in school to see if you will pass on to the next grade level or if you’ll make it into a Graduate program…and then you wait for the results…expecting the outcome you hope for.
You find out you’re going to have a baby…and you wait a long 9 months and wonder what incredible miracles are going on underneath the expanding skin of your belly…and you wait…you are quite literally, Expecting!
You are dating and you are sure that the person you are with is “The One”…you wait for the proposal to come…expecting to have your dreams come true.
But what happens when the waiting lasts way longer than you want it to? What happens when the outcome you expected to happen, doesn’t? Do you feel like you’ve wasted your time, efforts, or prayer time? Especially when you feel like the thing you are waiting for, that event that you are so full of expectancy for, doesn’t come to pass…or at least not how you imagined it would?
What do we do then? I know I have had those seasons in my life when absolutely nothing seemed to be going in my favor in that of our little family. Constant worries about finances, health, personal issues, and the future. Would anything ever work out for us? Would life be okay again? What kind of witness am I to unbelievers when they know I’m a Christian but it appears that God isn’t hearing me in the wait.
Look carefully and see the difference between what I just wrote above and the verses I’ve shared with you below. What do you see?
Psalm 5:1-3, 11-12, beautifully captures the heart of the one who is waiting…
Listen to my words, Lord; consider my sighing. Pay attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for I pray to You. At daybreak, Lord, You hear my voice; at daybreak I plead my case to You and watch expectantly. But let all who take refuge in You rejoice;
let them shout for joy forever. May You shelter them, and may those who love Your name boast about You. For You, Lord, bless the righteous one; You surround him with favor like a shield.
The difference is the focus of my heart.
When it’s all about me, the scope of life is quite small. When I remember that my focus needs to be on the Lord, my whole world opens up to see what it is that HE wants me to be interested in, focused on, who crosses my path that needs encouragement, and so much more. Suddenly, the wait isn’t unbearable any longer. I can walk confidently throughout my days and have a heart of expectancy because I know that I serve a God who created the Universe and has created a plan and purpose just for me! That’s pretty amazing people!!
We won’t always see the fruit of what we’ve been waiting for. We don’t always get the answers we want. But we have a secure hope in the Lord that He has the answers and He knows what is best. We also have the gift of His written Word…the Bible…which is full of encouragement with incredible stories of those who have gone before us in the wait.
Abraham and Sarah were actually told what they could expect to happen…but they had to wait for decades to see the promise. (Genesis 12 and 21).
Moses was saved from certain death because his mother hid him, Pharaoh’s daughter found him, God called him, he came up with every excuse in the book, and then trusted God would give him the strength to accomplish the task of setting the Israelites free. Although Moses knew the promises that would happen, he was disobedient in the wait and was able to move fully into the fruit of the promise. (book of Exodus). But he remained expectant.
Saul (of the New Testament) had an encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus ~ WHILE he was still beating and torturing Christians. Immediately Saul was blinded by the glory of the Lord, soon after was healed through prayer from a man who feared him (but completely trusted Jesus), and became Paul…a man whom the Lord built His church (Acts 9). In Acts 9:15-16 says of Paul, But the Lord said to him, “Go! For this man is My chosen instrument to take My name to Gentiles, kings, and the Israelites. I will show him how much he must suffer for My name!” This is just one story proving that God sees the whole picture and He is trustworthy in His promises, His decisions, His plans, and in what He asks us to be expectant for. It is not an easy task to do what God has set forth for us to accomplish, but it’s not about us and it won’t be easy! That’s why we must constantly lean into the Lord and follow His plan!
Today, be bold in the Lord and ask Him to whisper to your heart what He wants for you. Be it a word for the year, a task He wants you to undertake, a promise He has for you in the future…whatever it is, ask Him to show you how it is you are to move forward in the time of waiting, in this season of expectancy. When you are in line with His plan, He will be oh so good in showing you HOW do wait in Him. How to rest in Him.
He will be faithful to bring you a sense of peace and calmness while you are expectantly waiting for His promises to come to fruition. If for no other reason that your faith in the Lord will grow by and extraordinarily large amount!!
And whatever it is, it will be well worth the wait.
Blessings,
René
~~ Psalm 37:5-7a ~~ Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act, making your righteousness shine like the dawn, your justice like the noonday. Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for Him;
Broken & Blessed~Adventures in Gratutide! 