Waiting...with expectation

Do we really trust that God is big enough to answer our prayers?  Do we believe He cares enough to listen?  Do we flippantly throw up requests out of desperation without really trusting that He will ever answer us?  Do we put God in a box and put limits on His power just because we can't see an end to this seemingly endless season of wait?  In the middle of waiting, it's pretty easy to lose hope.  It's easy to start going through the motions.  It's easy to give up.

I believe that God is bigger than any situation we could possibly face.  I believe that He not only listens to our cries, but He also loves us enough to answer.  Just because we don't think we see His answer right away, doesn't mean that He's not working behind the scenes.  His timing is always perfect...even when it doesn't fit into our preferred timeframe.  And He always knows what is best for you and is working everything for your good...even when it seems like you're going through hell on earth.  So with this in mind, I've started to turn a mental corner.  I've begun to find that my seasons of waiting are turning into seasons of expectancy.

In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.

As I've started trying to turn my focus off of ME, God has opened up my eyes to some amazing blessings that He's been bringing into my life all along the way.  But, sadly, there are times when I'm too stuck on what I think I want or too bogged down in my pain, and I fail to realize that God's been abundantly providing for my needs every step of the way.  Why do we insist on clinging to our puny, tarnished, me-sized dreams, goals, and plans?  Why would we want to settle for anything less than God's best for our life?  Why are we afraid of giving up control?  If we'll only loosen our grip and surrender them to God, we'll find that He has incredible, GOD-sized plans for our lives that He longs to lavish on us.   

Compared to the plans of the Creator of the universe, your plans SUCK!  God has more in store for your life than you can possibly imagine.
--Perry Noble

I'm starting to see waiting as an incredible opportunity to step back and watch for God's hand.  I've found that when I am actively looking for God's fingerprints in my life, there's an anticipation...an excitement in the wait.  I believe there's a reason for our seasons of waiting.  I'm seeing over and over that if we will trust Him and follow His leading every step of the way, God uses our most painful and most uncertain times to bring us closer to Him.  To change us for the better.  To grow our faith.  To make us stronger.  To prepare us for a greater purpose.  Every challenge, every hurdle, every trial, every heartache...we can trust God.  He is working.  The wait isn't all for "nothing".  Morning always comes even after the darkest of nights.  So wait in expectation for His dawn.      

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.