Raise Your Expectations
Matthew 19:26
26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
“Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.”
-Henry Ford
“Where there is no faith in the future, there is no power in the present”
-Unknown
Thankfully in Christ, we don’t get what we deserve. I can say “amen” to that statement all day. All day, every day. Thank you Jesus!
Scripture does seem to indicate, more often than not, we do get what we expect. That is why we are discussing the need to raise our expectations in relation to our ability to thrive in hope.
Ray Johnston explains five attitudes and actions that will help us become a person who expects great things.
1) Believe Impossible Things Are Possible
One of my favorite stories of persistent faith is found in Luke 5:17-25. Some men desired to bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus. When they arrived at the house Jesus was teaching in, there was not enough room for them to enter. They could have given up and tried another day, but they had great expectation. Like the women with the issue of blood, they knew if they could just get through the crowd, Jesus would meet the need.
Their determination took them to the roof of the house, where they created a hole big enough for their friend to pass through, and lowered him to a place right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he forgave the man of his sins and healed him of paralysis. The man left whole in body and spirit. God honored their faith, and because of their great expectations, he exceeded what they thought was possible. They believed for a healing, but I don’t think they expected his sins to be forgiven. God is so good!
Four of the worst words we can allow to fill our minds, or worse yet, to escape our lips; are the words, “Things will never change.” Unbelief literally handcuffs the all-powerful hands of God. We have to be careful not to limit the Holy One of Israel like the children of Israel did in the wilderness. We must not be like those who lived in Jesus’ hometown, who made it impossible for God to do many miracles there, because of their unbelief.
We need to expect God to do great things in our life. It may be impossible with man, but with God, nothing shall be impossible to them that believe (Mark 9:23).
To bring balance, I am not saying God will do everything we expect. He is sovereign. We sometimes ask amiss, according to our flesh. We sometimes ask things that are not according to the plan of God. Finally, sometimes we ask for things to be fulfilled outside of their God-ordained time frame.
Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get your prayers answered right away. Keep praying according to the will of God and expect miracles, sings, and wonders to follow us as we believe.
2) Believe That God Has Better Days Ahead
We have to keep expecting God’s grace to improve our lives. We have to believe that if we will continue to sow things in the Spirit, we will reap the things of the Spirit. If we will be faithful to submit ourselves to God’s Spirit in prayer, and expose our minds to the transforming power of His Word, our lives will improve. We may not have more money, more possessions, more wealth, more fame, or more of the other temporary things we often long for; but we will have more love, more joy, more peace, more contentment, and more eternal rewards.
As we walk with Him, we will be separated more and more from the bondage of sin. We will receive more and more power to push back the darkness of spiritual opposition.
We walk through many different seasons in this life. Some days are great, and some days are horrific. But we can be confident, that in the areas that matter, things will continue to improve as we follow Christ.
When we are struggling horribly, we can always have the assurance that some way, some how, things will get better. Jesus will lead us through the valley of the shadow of death. We will see greener pastures and still waters again. We just have to keep following our Shepherd.
3) Realize the Power of Perspective
A young college student wrote her parents a tough letter during a sophomore year:
Dear Mom and Dad,
I know this is really going to be disappointing to you, but I met a guy. He is fifteen years older than me. We’re in love. We just eloped. I’m two months pregnant. I’m dropping out of school and I will contact you at some point in the future. I’m really sorry,
Your Daughter
Just below the note she added a P.S.
P.S. Just Kidding. But I did flunk one class and I need $200. Please keep this in perspective.
Sometimes we don’t need a change of circumstances as much as we need a change in our perspective.
Remember the twelve spies who were tasked with giving a report about the Promise Land? They all saw the same things. They all had the same promises from God. They had all been delivered from Egypt by the mighty hand of God. They had identical circumstances. The difference between the two who brought the good report and the ten who brought the evil report – perspective.
When Nehemiah asked his friends about how things were going for the Jews in Jerusalem (who had returned from captivity), they told him:
“Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.” (Nehemiah 1:3)
Things were horrible, and they had not improved for 92 years, but Nehemiah had faith for things to change. He had a different perspective.
For 92 years, Jerusalem had no walls. For 92 years, the people lived under fear, failure, frustration, and fatigue. Then Nehemiah arrived with a different perspective.
Under Nehemiah’s leadership, the people were able to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in 52 days!
Are you providing an expectation of faith and hope for your family, on your job, in your school? Are you bringing a hopeful perspective to a seemingly hopeless situation?
I challenge you to maintain the perspective of hope, through faith in God, regardless of the circumstance.
4) Replace Fear With Faith
Johnston offers a profound definition of fear – “fear is the darkroom where negatives are developed.”
We need to move from fear to faith.
Johnston uses the story of David and Goliath to illustrate fear vs. faith. He says:
“Israel allowed four destructive steps – FEAR – to keep it quivering on the sidelines. But David made five positive choices – FAITH – to take a risk for God.”
The four destructive steps of FEAR are:
Focused only on the problem (1 Samuel 17:4-10)
Expected to be defeated (1 Samuel 17:11)
Attitude of self-protection (1 Samuel 17:23-24)
Ran from the problem (1 Samuel 17:24)
Conversely, the five positive choices of FAITH are:
Focused on God (1 Samuel 17:26)
Anticipated God’s help (1 Samuel 17:45-47)
Insisted on being involved (1 Samuel 17:28-32)
Took time to prepare (1 Samuel 17:38-40)
Had an impact on everyone around him (1 Samuel 17:51-52)
When David destroyed Goliath, it moved the entire nation of Israel from a paralysis of fear to victorious march of faith.
5) Replace “What If” with “Why Not?”
In Exodus 14, we read how the Lord had just delivered the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt and commanded them to turn and camp by the sea. The Lord had intentionally led them to a place where Pharaoh would see they were trapped and pursue them.
When Pharaoh and his men began to pursue them, the children of Israel saw that they were trapped between the mountains and the sea. They had nowhere to go and Pharaoh was bearing down on them.
As the children of Israel panicked, their minds must have been filled with “what ifs.” What if God had not led them here? What if they would have stayed in Egypt? What if they would have ignored God’s direction and taken a different route?
Thankfully Moses had a “why not?” When God told Moses to stretch out his rod over the Red Sea to part the waters, Moses said, “why not?” He could have been overcome with the “what ifs” like the others, but instead he silenced the inner reasoning, and with faith, said “why not?”
As a result, the children of Israel saw the power and the plan of God that day. He did not lead them to that place to die. He led them to that place so their enemy would chase them and be destroyed in the Red Sea once and for all.
A friend of Ray Johnston’s, named Roger Crawford, was born with shortened limbs, including two mis-shapen hands that protrude from his forearms with two fingers on one and one on the other. Needless to say, he has encountered many challenges in life because of his abnormal condition. But Roger learned how to silence the “what ifs” about his condition and excel through an attitude of “why not?”
Not only has he learned to play tennis, but he learned to play it exceptionally well! In fact, he became a NCAA Division 1 tennis champion!
As a result of his accomplishments and his exemplary attitude, Crawford speaks to audiences all over the world about overcoming critics and doubters. He encourages people to lay aside the pessimism of “I can’t” and embrace the unstoppable power of “I can.”
Crawford was asked to tour Walter Reed Memorial Hospital and encourage soldiers who had lost limbs in the line of duty. He noted how devastate most of the soldiers were. It was such a grief-laden atmosphere, the normally optimistic Crawford was feeling depressed. Then he walked into a room where a young man lay flat on his back, unable to move.
As Crawford talked to the smiling young man, he found out he was a committed Christian.
“Hey, you don’t have normal arms either,” said the young man to Crawford. “How can I pray for you?”
Crawford was taken back by the young man’s optimism as they continued to talk, and finally he asked the young man, “What’s your secret? Everyone here is devastated and depressed, but you actually have hope.”
“I’m flat on my back,” the younger soldier said, “so the only thing I can do is look up.”
Perhaps God has led us to a particular situation where we are surrounded by difficulty, and instead of wallowing in the despair of the endless “what ifs,” why don’t we look up to God and say “why not?” I know things are hard, but I know God can lead me through this, “why not?”
Conclusion:
Our expectations are shaped by our faith in God and our knowledge of His will. As we know His will, we can have expectantly hope that He will perform it. We just have to make the choice to trust in Him. We have to willfully choose to expect great things from Almighty God, according to His will. No matter how impossible it seems.