YOU GET WHAT YOU EXPECT
From The HeartPublish date: 01/31/2006
[What, what would have become of me] had I not believed that I would see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living! 14 Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.
Psalms 27:13-14 AMPThe word translated as "wait" in the KJV means "to expect." David believed and expected that he would see the Lord’s goodness extended to him here on earth. He waited for, hoped for, and expected the Lord to show up when he needed Him and to answer his prayers on time. Because of his faith in God, he made it through tremendously difficult times. Anyone else would not have survived the things David went through, but because of his relationship with God, and his trust in God, God brought him through with victory! David asks the rhetorical question, "What, what would have become of me had I not believed that I would see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living!" David knew from whence his victory came. He is saying, "Thank God I placed my trust in Him. He never let me down. I would not be here if I had not expected God to come through and I would not be here if He had not come through for me!"
There are two components to David’s success:
1. God’s promise and His faithfulness to keep His word.
2. David’s faith in God’s Word, which activated God’s power on His behalf.
You get what you expect to get. Because David expected God to keep His word and answer his prayers, God did! David encourages you and me to do as he did: expect to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]! Isaiah 30:18 AMP
David expected God to do good things for him. This scripture says that God expects—He earnestly looks and longs—to be gracious to you and me and to have mercy on us and show us His loving-kindness, because He is a God of justice. Those who expect His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship, are blessed. That means that their expectation will be fully met! If you want to be blessed, you must expect!
Even youths shall faint and be weary, and [selected] young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted; 31 But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.
Isaiah 40:30-31 AMP
Those whose expectation is in the Lord will do things that are impossible in the natural—they will do supernatural things and live supernatural lives! In Isaiah 49:23 God says that, "they shall not be put to shame who wait for, look for, hope for, and expect Me."
For in the Law of Moses it is written, You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the corn. Is it [only] for oxen that God cares? 10 Or does He speak certainly and entirely for our sakes? [Assuredly] it is written for our sakes, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher ought to thresh in expectation of partaking of the harvest. 1 Corinthians 9:9-10 AMP
God tells us to expect a harvest on what we have sown—to plow in hope and to thresh in expectation of partaking of the harvest.
For Israel has behaved stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. How then should he expect to be fed and treated by the Lord like a lamb in a large pasture? Hosea 4:16 AMP
The hope of the [uncompromisingly] righteous (the upright, in right standing with God) is gladness, but the expectation of the wicked (those who are out of harmony with God) comes to nothing. Proverbs 10:28 AMP
God tells you to expect Him to keep His promises and He expects you to keep yours. How can anyone expect God to bless disobedience? If we are disobedient we can’t expect God’s benefits and if we are faithless we won’t expect God’s benefits! God will bless those who are willing and obedient and who keep their word and who expect God to keep His word.
Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord all the day long. 18 For surely there is a latter end [a future and a reward], and your hope and expectation shall not be cut off. 19 Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your mind in the way [of the Lord]. Proverbs 23:17-19 AMP
My son, eat honey, because it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. 14 So shall you know skillful and godly Wisdom to be thus to your life; if you find it, then shall there be a future and a reward, and your hope and expectation shall not be cut off. Proverbs 24:13-14 AMP
Don’t envy sinners, but rather keep your eyes on Jesus and continue to faithfully serve God. Love His word and allow it to transform your life and you will have a future and a reward—your hope and expectation shall not be cut off—you will only know God’s blessing in your life!