A big topic the staff at Adventures like to instill into our brains is expectations. I’ve read countless blogs and talked with many alumni and they all say the same thing: ditch your expectations. Going into training camp I knew I had to leave my expectations at home. So I did.
The staff at Adventures like to talk about expectations so much that it was the very first topic covered at camp. It went something like this:
- Food: love rice.
- Schedule: won’t exist.
- Teammates: get used to them.
- Leadership: get used to that, too.
- Rights: you’re not entitled to them.
Got it, I thought as we went through the list. Lines? I can deal with that. Alone time? That’s something for introverts. Good ministry contacts and good locations? I’ll be happy with whatever the Lord gives me.
I had this all down. I had beautifully and masterfully ditched all of my expectations. I was feeling pretty confident. Then God threw me a curve ball.
You can expect: God to move.
Wait, I thought we were supposed to ditch all of our expectations? When I thought about expectations, I thought about what not to expect. I suppose I’m pretty good at not expecting things. I never considered what to expect. Yeah, I know God does great things on the Race. He’ll probably do great things, incredible things on my Race. But I never really thought about living each day with the expectation that God will move.
A dear, wise friend shared this verse with me this week:
“In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice, in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.”
-Psalm 5:3
There’s that beloved topic again: expectations. I think we are all pretty good at saying we expect God to move. We read our Bible and think, God will move today, then continue on with our day. We cling to our own expectations, unable to experience what God has in store for us. But how many of us wake up, open our hearts, and “wait expectantly” for God to move? How often do we turn to God, but secretly doubt that He will actually break through? We pray without truly believing that He will answer.
God tells us to wait in expectation. He wants us to wait hopefully, knowing that He will move any minute, that something incredible is just around the corner. He tells us that we should bow at the knee of the Father, lift our request to Him, and wait in joyful expectation of what is about to happen. That if we ask, He hears us. And if we know He hears us, we know that we have what we have asked Him for.
Will you join me in waiting expectantly?
