Lately there have been several situations that seem difficult… nigh on impossible. I look at them and I can’t imagine any plausible scenario where things could turn out well. And I realized, despite what I would profess, my heart attitude shows I’ve taken God out of the equation, yet again. I’m not being expectant–at least not of anything good.
Andrew Murray said:
“In your prayers, above everything else, beware of limiting God, not only through unbelief but also by thinking you know exactly what He can do. Learn to expect the unexpected, beyond all that you ask or think. So each time you intercede through prayer, first be quiet and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, how He delights in Christ His Son, and of your place in Him—then expect great things” (The Ministry of Intercession: A Plea for More Prayer, [New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1898], 210)
Beth Moore tells the story of how her aunt would always ask what Beth wanted for her birthday and one year she asked for an elephant to ride to school. Obviously, she didn’t get it, but her aunt delighted in that request.
Expect great things. Maybe God will give me an elephant. Or maybe He’ll give me something better. As I told a friend recently, if someone would have come to me three or four years ago and said, “You’re going to get auto-immune disease and it’s going to be hard, but really good,” I would have a) been terrified, b) blown off the “really good” part (how can anything like that be remotely good?!).
But is anything too hard for the LORD? I’m the one with the lack of knowledge and imagination—not God. These limitations have opened up vistas of possibility I never would have dreamed. So my “something better” might not look like it on the surface, but at the heart, it’s better than anything I could have come up with.
Put God back into the equation: pray and expect more than I can imagine, O my soul.
