Expectant faith / expectant hope!

This has been a theme God has been working into my heart for the past several (ok, maybe 30??) years. My life has been very different post-stroke, and I continue to find things that give me pause, sometimes exasperation, sometimes fear, sometimes renewal. But at least this is true: there’s never a dull life with God!

I am not a planner. Nor am I an analyzer. I’m more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants-er. So sometimes things will be happening in my life and I don’t even notice patterns, at least not until I sit down in frustration with the Lord or with Kevin and gripe about it. And then in that moment (or in the days that follow) God will remind me of the patterns that have been repeating in my life. You know, this whole “evaluating life” thing is kind of interesting! :D

Today I just had OOMPH in my soul to write a post. Not about anything in particular, just to write. I often find that God clarifies things for me when I put things “on paper” so to speak. So, I opened the blog and stared at a blank page. As I prayed about what God wanted to show me, I heard the words “expectant faith/expectant hope”… words God has spoken to me MUCH MORE since my stroke 5 years ago. So, I searched to see if I’d written anything about it before (and perhaps needed to be reminded of). And sure enough, I found a post I’d written 2 years ago on God’s gifts and IT WAS SOOO GOOD for me to read! But God had (has) more for me to learn/meditate on.

Do I live my life in expectant faith for God to work?

As I said, God has been weaving this theme into my relationship with Him for awhile now. Sometimes I notice, most times I don’t. But this I know:

I want to live out my remaining days with open hands, ready to receive what God has for me:

• the wonderful
• the easy and recognizable blessings
• the hard times of training and pruning
• the call to follow in the steps of Jesus

I don’t want to live my life in the lethargy of “if it be Thy will” praying. By that I mean how easily we tack that on to the end of our prayers kind of like thinking: well God, in case nothing happens, I’ll give You and out. I want to live in the tenacity of

-Moses who sat on the mountain for 6 days silent before God until He spoke
-Jacob who held onto the angel of the Lord until he was blessed
-Peter saying where else could he go as Jesus alone had the words of life
-Job who said “though He slay me, yet will I trust Him”

Are YOU expecting God to work, to speak to you today?

This was the question I found myself asking ME this morning? And YES, I AM! I believe with all my heart, soul and mind that God IS a God who hears, who provides, who covers over us, who is peace, who heals, who fights for me.

Just as my post on God’s gifts I don’t want to unwrap talks about my struggles with my memory, my hope – my faith is not in ME or MY abilities. My expectations are in God – the God who is the same yesterday, today and forever; the God who called His children out of slavery into the wilderness to give them the promised land; the God who planned for our deliverance from the foundation of the world. THIS is the God I’m trusting and putting expectations on to work in my life, to draw me closer to Him, to bypass my physical limitations, and to reveal Himself to me through the supernatural that is all around me even when I can’t see it.

God, I open my hands to You and declare that I expect You to be faithful to Your word. My hope is in You!