EXPECT GOD TO MOVE (DEVOTIONAL)

Good morning!! :)

Something jumped-out at me this morning when reading Genesis 48... This past month, when I read Genesis, I felt myself doing so in an academic way...hoping that my heart would engage and absorb new insights from above about God, life, life with Him, etc.  It was heavy on my heart to have it engage- to slow down and anticipate God to speak through something I had read.

Genesis 48:11 (New Living Translation)

¹¹ Then Jacob said to Joseph, “I never thought I would see your face again, but now God has let me see your children, too!”

Jacob didn't expect to see his son, Joseph's, face again as Jacob thought Joseph was dead.  He later was reaquainted with His son- discovering that Joseph was indeed alive, well, and had children. THAT is how good God is...  God gave Jacob MORE THAN he had expected. :)  It connected another verse with my heart:

Ephesians 3:20 (English Standard Version)

 ²⁰Now to Him (God/Jesus) Who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

What do we expect of God?  Do we feel as if He is distant and not invovled/engaged with us?  To we feel as though we need to "take care of it (whatever "it" is) " for God?


"Now to HIM Who IS able..."  "IS" is a present-tense linking verb.  It connotates a sense a time as well as action.  God IS present as well as engaged and involved with you, me, us...


It all comes down, it seems :), to what we expect of God (which shows what our hearts think of His character).  Oswald Chambers does a brilliant "job" in expressing this:


Perseverance is more than endurance. It is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen.Perseverance means more than just hanging on, which may be only exposing our fear of letting go and falling. Perseverance is our supreme effort of refusing to believe that our Hero is going to be conquered. Our greatest fear is not that we will be damned, but that somehow Jesus Christ will be defeated. Also, our fear is that the very things our Lord stood for— love, justice, forgiveness, and kindness among men— will not win out in the end and will represent an unattainable goal for us. Then there is the call to spiritual perseverance. A call not to hang on and do nothing, but to work deliberately, knowing with certainty that God will never be defeated.

If our hopes seem to be experiencing disappointment right now, it simply means that they are being purified (God is growing you- giving you freedom from past constraints and helpling you know Him more). Every hope or dream of the human mind will be fulfilled if it is noble and of God. But one of the greatest stresses in life is the stress of waiting for God. He brings fulfillment, "because you have kept My command to persevere-" ( Revelation 3:10 ).

All of us can say that it is a battle of trust and control.  If we fear and expect God not to come come through on His promise(s) to be with us, lead us, help us, etc then we take it all into our own hands.  God, in His love for us, allows us to do just that.  We can choose.  We're not puppets but valuable in His eyes- beyond what we can fathom.  Who wants to be controlled?  Not me :).  God doesn't control us... It's through seeking Him out and learning FIRST HAND that He is real, loves you/me/us, walks WITH us through the trials of life, and saves us from ourselves and the unseen (more than we realize) that we let go of our choice to control into His hands...one minute at a time, each day.

Today, let's ask God, "God, please help me see this (whatever is on your heart...) through your eyes.  Show me Your way and help me to know Jesus more."  As you pray this you will see Him move throughout your heart and your day.  If you want His leading, He will... He loves you.  We might fail, but He NEVER does... His wisdom sees so much more than our eyes and minds can comprehend.  God knows the desires of your heart - if that desire has not happened yet, then He is protecting you.  His timing is perfect.

Expect GREAT things from Him.  Expect God to move...  Ask.  :)

His,

Mer.