What We Can Expect — A LifeWords Devotion

I will never forget this awful time,
    as I grieve over my loss.
Yet I still dare to hope
    when I remember this:

The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
    His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
    his mercies begin afresh each morning. (NLT)

Some of us have great expectations of God, while others expect little or nothing. So what can we legitimately expect from God? Jesus seems to suggest that all our prayer requests will be granted, but that is clearly a false expectation which causes us to reflect on just what Jesus is promising.

In other places, the Psalmist assures us of healing and victory and freedom from pain or pitfalls. Then again, that same Psalmist speaks often of setbacks and suffering. The Bible speaks of the joy and satisfaction of loving relationships whereas many taste the bitterness of relationships turning toxic.

We need not surrender to weary cynicism, dismissing the promises of God, expecting nothing so that we are not disappointed when we receive nothing. Nor need we resort to simplistic “name it and claim it” type of faith. That will result in both guilt and ultimate disappointment.

Why not use the text today as a sort of “bottom line” promise. The writer is obviously in distress: things have not turned out as hoped for. Life is hard. He does not ignore this painful reality. But he retains a core expectation: that God will be faithful. He does not expect the new day to be trouble free. He expects God to be both merciful and faithful in that day. Whatever else he cannot be sure of, he can be sure of that.

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It was his, and can be our great expectation.

Blessings

David