Luke 3:15-16, 21-22
“The people were filled with expectation” (Luke 3:15)
This Christmas, a friend gave me pencils which say “Expect Great Things.” It was a meaningful gift for several reasons, including because I had just experienced how expecting more from the Lord opened new and beautiful doors I hadn’t imagined.
Nearly 400 years since the last prophet, the Israelites were still expecting the Messiah to come. It wasn’t a passive expectation. They kept this expectation alive by actively recalling what God had done. And, when they thought John might be the Messiah, they stepped out in faith, traveling to receive his baptism of repentance.
The Israelites had a culture of storytelling: Of recalling to one another what God had done and promised. And when I recall how God has worked or spoken in my life, and hear how He’s acting in others’ lives, it increases my expectation for Him to do more in my present and future. It reminds me who God is.
The fulfillment of specific expectations should not be our end goal. Rather, having expectant faith can be a transformative way of life that continually renews our minds and helps us to see God better.
When God gives us a promise, but delays its fulfillment, we can: Focus only on our desired outcome and gradually close off our hearts; or, allow Him to expand and purify our hearts in the waiting, so we can better receive the precious things He wants to give, and be used for his glory. A key to the latter way is prayer: Coming to Him open and vulnerable, letting Him continually reveal Himself more fully, and allowing Him to draw us closer, transforming our visions.
We see at Jesus’ baptism that for those who held their expectations with docility and humility (receiving John’s words that he was not the Messiah) and allowed themselves to be purified, a new spiritual realm became accessible: Heaven opened for them – they could see the Holy Spirit, and hear the voice of the Father (21-22).
That should be our ultimate hope in all our expectations: That God wants to reveal Himself to us and to close the distance between us.
Friends, let us expect great things.
Comments