To live with expecting God to be with us always, as promised, is a blessing.  To wait with expectation for God to act because you know He will, is a blessing from God to us.  To expect salvation through Jesus with complete forgiveness for sins is a blessing!  Expectations about God come with blessings from God.  Here are just a few verses from God’s Word about “expecting” …

• “But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” Romans 8:25
• “The hope of the righteous is gladness, But the expectation of the wicked perishes.”  Proverbs 10:28
• “My soul, waits in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him.” Psalm 62:5
• “In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.” Psalm 5:3
• “For the needy will not always be forgotten, Nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever.” Psalm 9:18

There is so much more that God says about our expectations about Him and what He will do to save us and deliver us.  As Jesus answers John’s question, “Are you the One, He takes our expectation thoughts deeper.

What are you expecting? What are you expecting God to do in and through you? 

Matthew 11, The Message

John the Baptizer

When Jesus finished placing this charge before his twelve disciples, he went on to teach and preach in their villages.

^2-3 John, meanwhile, had been locked up in prison. When he got wind of what Jesus was doing, he sent his own disciples to ask, “Are you the One we’ve been expecting, or are we still waiting?”

^4-6 Jesus told them, “Go back and tell John what’s going on:

The blind see,
The lame walk,
Lepers are cleansed,
The deaf hear,
The dead are raised,
The wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side.

“Is this what you were expecting? Then count yourselves most blessed!”

^7-10 When John’s disciples left to report, Jesus started talking to the crowd about John. “What did you expect when you went out to see him in the wild? A weekend camper? Hardly. What then? A sheik in silk pajamas? Not in the wilderness, not by a long shot. What then? A prophet? That’s right, a prophet! Probably the best prophet you’ll ever hear. He is the prophet that Malachi announced when he wrote, ‘I’m sending my prophet ahead of you, to make the road smooth for you.’

^11-14 “Let me tell you what’s going on here: No one in history surpasses John the Baptizer; but in the kingdom he prepared you for, the lowliest person is ahead of him. For a long time now people have tried to force themselves into God’s kingdom. But if you read the books of the Prophets and God’s Law closely, you will see them culminate in John, teaming up with him in preparing the way for the Messiah of the kingdom. Looked at in this way, John is the ‘Elijah’ you’ve all been expecting to arrive and introduce the Messiah.

¹⁵ “Are you listening to me? Really listening?

^16-19 “How can I account for this generation? The people have been like spoiled children whining to their parents, ‘We wanted to skip rope, and you were always too tired; we wanted to talk, but you were always too busy.’ John came fasting and they called him crazy. I came feasting and they called me a boozer, a friend of the misfits. Opinion polls don’t count for much, do they? The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Jesus is the One we are expecting to come back to claim His own and take us home.  The “proof” is in the fulfillment of what God said, accomplished once and for all in Jesus.

Paul writes to the Romans (and us) about who we are and what to expect from our Savior and Lord:

Believe.  “Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2

Expect. “This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!” Romans 8:15-19, MSG

Live with expectant, anticipated joy:  “That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.  Romans 8:18-21, MSG

Lose to Gain.  “So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!”  Romans 8:12-14

Lord,

We cannot help but see your glory at work in our lives and in the lives of those around us.  We know you love us and want the best for us.  We know and believe that you are always with us.  We know and believe you are for us, not against us.  We know that you have saved us from all our sins.  Thank you for allowing us to trade up from our old way of life to a new life with joyful expectancy in You.  Thank you for a place in your Kingdom. So, what’s next, Papa?

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen