Today is November 11th and its about 2:00.... if you’re a Christmas freak like me you know that in 43 days & 10 hours it will be midnight on christmas eve and Santa will be flyin high.... Okay so maybe that was a bit much, but still it shows you something about my personality. I love Christmas time. I was always a spoiled lil kid at xmas time, but Im not even like this because of the presents...I just love everything about it. It isn’t even thanksgiving yet and Im already freaking out about it. There’s not even much happening yet...the stores are selling decorations, the commercials have been leaking into my favorite sitcoms, and it is Christmas at Starbucks already (yay gingerbread lattes!) , but other than that the “most wonderful time” hasn’t even started. So if I’m not excited about toys...I dont see Christmas everywhere ..and snow has barely started falling, why am I still so excited?
I think that my excitement comes from simple expectancy. I am merely expecting the holiday season to come and be wonderful, I just have faith that it will come like it always does. I dont yet have prove, but I have expectancy anyway because of my faith in Christmastime. That same thing happened to me in my walk with God today.
I woke up early this morning and got ready to go to church knowing that I needed time to get to church on my own and allow time for a stop at the ‘bucks for a muffin and my first gingerbread latte of the year! In the midst of my drinking & driving I started listening to some worship music and I got myself expecting great things for today’s service. By the time I got to the church I was bursting inside and ready for God to do something. God has yet to let me (or anyone else) down so of course he showed up this morning and touched me. It was wonderful, I haven’t been impacted that much in a service in a while and that got me thinking...
An anointed man was at our church, but that isn’t solely where my blessing came from. A lot of it came from my own expectancy. I sought God out and I knew he would show up ..so he did. That faith is what drives Christianity to begin with. We believed and were saved..we believed and were filled... we believe and we will have a long healthy life....so why not believe and receive? So often we go to church expecting it to be long and boring, or thinking that there’s nothing there for me or thinking that there’s no reason to go when itl just make you feel guilty. When we go to church with these negative, God-hindering thoughts we come home as empty as we were before we got out of bed. God can move despite you, but the best way to get God is to expect him to do something.
I have been to many conferences in the last 6 years, and every time I go I get home wondering that if it’s the same God...why doesn’t he move in that same powerful way when I get home? I know that it has something to do with my expectancy. I’ve been at conferences with over 2,000 students crying out to God... of course the spirit will be more powerful there because for weeks before everyone was in prayer expecting great things for the conference. I would love to see what our churches and youth groups would be like if everyone could apply that mentality to every single service. I am as at much at fault as the next guy, but God is challenging me to expect more from him at every church service that I go to. Even if the worship team is off-key, the pastor stutters through his lengthy boring message, and you’re surrounded by distractions, God will still do something in you if you expect him to. I challenge you to take the next service you are going to and pray about it..get excited for it and wait for God to show up. What do you have to lose?(..other than your usual sunday morning pew nap of course)
