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There is something delightful about being a beneficiary of having your expectations blown away. In fact, it produces instant gratification and a sense of gratitude in your heart. I always experience this when I receive extraordinary customer service or when I am pleasantly surprised by someone. Whenever someone goes the “extra mile,” it always brings a smile to my face.
Expectations are a strange thing. When we have high expectations, it is easy to get disappointed and disillusioned. But if we have too little, then life gets too predictable, boring and uneventful. We need a good balance.
The great thing about expectations and our relationship with God is that we can always anticipate great things. But how is this so?
It is rooted in the nature of God. The Bible tells us that God, in His nature, cannot lie (Nu 23:19; 1 Sa 15:29; Heb 6:18-19; Titus 1:2). Therefore, if God promises us something in His Word, then He will fulfill it – no matter what! This is why we can be certain that our expectations will be met if our expectations are rooted in Scripture.
In the last 3 weeks God has been going beyond our expectation as a church. As we have been praying corporately, we got a sense that God wanted to do some great things in coming year. We knew the importance of this year, especially as we were going through a lot of transitions. But I don’t think we fully knew all that God was going to do.
It has been pretty humbling to see all the people that we have been able to reach out to even through it is the first week of school. There is a collective sense that the best is yet to come.
In light of God going beyond our expectations, I had some time to reflect and I was reminded of these important lessons:
2) Be humble because God’s favor is something that cannot be earned.
3) Be prepared for spiritual warfare because Satan is a “roaring lion.”
4) Be faithful in stewarding what God has given you, no matter what the cost.
5) Be focused in the mission because it is easy to be derailed by distractions.
6) Be prayerful because strength will be needed as we serve and give sacrificially.
7) Be thankful because God didn’t have to give us this privilege.