From Expectation To Expectancy
When Love Becomes Bigger Than What We Expected
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses...” — Acts 1:8
What About Me?
“Jesus, would You let my boys sit on Your right and left?”
I love that mother's request.
She wanted something wonderful for her sons, but I doubt she was the only one wondering what following Jesus might eventually mean for them.
The disciples had expectations too. They had left everything to follow Him, yet they were still imagining the Kingdom in terms of what they might receive or become.
Jesus didn't shame them for any of it. He kept loving them and revealing His Father.
Something Bigger
Then came the cross, resurrection, and Jesus' simple instruction to wait.
The disciples who had scattered were gathered together again, waiting for the Holy Spirit Jesus had promised.
They weren't waiting for a better position anymore. They were waiting for the power to live the life Jesus had already shared with them.
Their expectations were becoming expectancy.
When Expectations Become Heavy
I know how easily expectations can become burdens.
We carry expectations of ourselves, of people we love, of circumstances, and even of what life with God should look like.
Sometimes we don't even realize how tightly we're holding them until life unfolds differently.
Abba doesn't shame us there either.
He gently widens our view until what He is doing in us and through us becomes more beautiful than we thought He should do for us.
Living Expectantly
There is a freedom in releasing the life I expected and becoming awake to the Life already within me.
Expectancy doesn't demand that tomorrow look a certain way. It simply knows that whatever tomorrow holds, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will already be there, loving, revealing, healing, and inviting me to participate.
Maybe that's the journey the disciples were taking all along—from “What about me?” to the wonder of “What are You doing, and how do I get to share in it?”
That's a beautiful way to wake up every morning.
Not demanding what I expect, but an expectancy for Love to reveal Himself.
Reflection
What expectation have I been carrying that has become heavy?
Where might Abba be gently widening what I see?
What would it look like to live today with expectancy instead of expectation?
Prayer
Abba Father, loosen my grip on what I expected and awaken me to Your life already within me. Let me live today expecting Your Love. Amen.