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Expectation Living

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.  Psalm 23:6.  
      What words give you hope, joy, and encouragement to live an expectant life each day? 
During a gathering of ladies, one related a conversation from a friend.  Each sentence began, “Guess what?” And the news, she related, contained a waiting period for something good ready to happen.
     I recalled my Mother’s prayer each day, after being moved to a new town, a new church, and new opportunities, “Dear Lord, what do you have for me today?”  Then she waited for the Lord to draw her into His Plan for her day! 
         What is the ultimate joy of our lives?  Jesus is coming again! Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.  God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24.
         Our world is enmeshed with tentacles of fear on every hand threatening to engulf us.  We despair of the one thing we desire most of all—Hope every day!  We watch God all around us doing impossible things in the hearts of us all.  He teaches us to love and forgive; trust and obey Him.  The Hope He gives us through Jesus Christ strengthens us to walk daily with Him. 
         When was the last time your cup ran over with indescribable joy?  It is when I read this verse; I rejoice and praise Him.  The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving. Psalm 28:7.
         What magnifies the joy I find in our Lord?  Sharing the Hope within me.  Every moment I want to highlight the assurance of His Being and Purpose on this earth.  Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need. So, don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.  Matthew 6: 33-34.
         How easy it is to look forward to tomorrow and worry about what might happen.  Trusting in God, moment by moment provides peaceful living with thankful hearts.
          Apostle Paul had a disability concerning him. 2 Corinthians 12:8-10, tells what he learned through prayer.  Concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.  And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 
“Why would He turn you into a vessel that has no need for Him? Faith means trusting Him to be all the things you need Him to be, despite your own inadequacies, and, for that matter, in light of the fact that you don’t actually know what you need or what success looks like. He won’t give you strength; He will be your strength.” (This quote came from the Mocking Bird Devotionals by Ethan Richardson and Sean Norris.)
God is our strength in our weakness.  We so want to be self-sufficient and do things on our own. We want to be a self-made success when we don’t understand what success really is.  Success to God is when we realize our Father God loves us beyond our comprehension and is the reason why we draw each breath.  Being able to love others and love God with our whole being—this is success in the eyes of God.  Being thankful and expressing our joy to our Lord is success.
Colossians 1:15-17 brings us understanding of what truth is. Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth.  He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.  He existed before anything else, and He holds all creation together.
                         
           Expectation Living
    Who writes the expectation,
    Filling my heart each day?
    Who holds the pen that writes
    Frustration in a myriad of ways?

    Their names are Confusion, Chaos,
    And Confounding Commotion
    Filling my every moment with
    Increasing defeat and frustration.

    From the depths of despair
    I raise longing eyes to You!
   “Lord, write on my heart your message
    Of eternal expectations true.”

    “Fill my heart and my mind
    Jesus is Lord of all!
    And world expectations dim,
    All I hear is your sweet call.
                 Emily A. Combs

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