The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Expect God"
"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior, and Lord Jesus Christ, who is our hope" (I Timothy 1:1).
The Apostle Paul declares the Lord Jesus to be our confident expectation regarding the future, our hope. Thereby, Paul declares that no matter what happens of blessing or challenge in time to come, our Savior awaits us there to be everything we need Him to be. Our calling involves expectation. Do we believe the Lord to be so present, involved, and able in our hearts and lives that no contingency will find our confidence in Him to have been ill advised?
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof" (Psalm 46:1-3).
Our anticipation matters. If we do not expect God to be who He is and do what He does, we may well miss much of happiness in His blessings, and of His "very present help in trouble." Regarding the former, knowing that "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above" prepares us for the consistent thanksgiving that makes our blessings far more blessed (James 1:17). Indeed, it is one thing to enjoy God's gifts. It is another to enjoy them with conscious awareness of Him as their source and beneficence. Consider at this time of year the wonder of autumn hues, chill in the air, and the blueness of the sky. We can enjoy the gifts without remembering or affirming they are gifts. Add thanksgiving to the blessings, however, based on our anticipation of faith regarding God's giving of all things, and moments of happiness become far greater moments of holiness.
Regarding our challenges, the Bible only speaks of our Lord's very present help in terms of troubles. Do we expect Him to be especially awaiting us in trial, difficulty, loss, pain, and suffering? Our experience of such compassionate grace has much to do with how we experience His very presence therein. The hope of our hearts must be involve determined anticipation, based on knowing our Heavenly Father well enough to believe there wherever of challenge He may lead or allow us to go, He will go with us and will be there when we arrive. "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee" (Isaiah 43:2).
In a Sunday school class of middle school boys I taught many years ago, I placed a poster on the wall that contained the words, "Expect God." I asked the boys, "What do you think I mean by this?"
Immediately, one responded, "You mean Jesus is coming again!" "That's a great answer," I said, "and you're right. But I'm actually thinking about a different expectation than that." No other answers were forthcoming, so I shared with them the affirmation of the Psalmist, "My soul, wait thou only upon God. For my expectation is from Him" (Psalm 62:5).
I shared with the boys that if they believed in the Lord Jesus, their lives would be saturated with His presence and working in all things. "You will never live a moment in this life or the next in which your Lord is not its greatest fact and reality. You may not always see or understand what He is doing, and you may not always be immediately comfortable with how He works. However, His glory, your good, and the good of those with whom you live will be the truth of your existence." I concluded, "Yes gentlemen, expect God."
Nearly five decades have not changed my conclusion, or my desire to "hope thou in God" (Psalm 42:5). He indeed goes with us wherever we journey, and He will be there when we arrive. This is our confident expectation of the future, our hope, based on our determined trust in the God who will be all we need Him to be, in all things. "Expect God."
"The LORD will be the hope of His people."
(Joel 3:16)
Weekly Memory Verse
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.
(Matthew 7:24)
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