Wait with expectation

Waiting patiently for God 

always includes joyful expectation.  

Without expectation 

our waiting can get bogged down in the present.  

When we wait in expectation 

our whole beings are open to be surprised by joy.

It is this joyful expectation of God's coming 

that offers vitality to our lives. 

The expectation of the fulfilment 

of God's promises to us 

is what allows us to pay full attention 

to the road on which we are walking.

Henri Nouwen

being still with Sandy

 

A quiet waiting

I have been muted
this may surprise
you
who know me louder
words falling free

I close my eyes
to look through His
shut my ears to hear

Often expectation comes
with shouts and cheers
impatient applause
to call forth
that which we await

This year the quiet
is a choice
expecting in stillness

His coming
His living
His dying
His coming again

In the silence
the space between breaths
I worship

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty—the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come  Revelation 4:8b New Living Translation

Joining Jason and the other warrior poets writing about expecting

 

Thirst quenching

Each breath drawn
slowly, waiting
on the edge
of unexplained tears
for the new thing
He promises

Lake light
shimmers
as the sun dies
in thirst quenching beauty

Water holding secrets
never to be told.

Joining others at dverse - the poet's pub for Saturday Poetics where today's prompt was water

Another morning...

As expected, it was all a hoax. 
And so we see another morning break, in this our earthly home

and as I rejoice and worship Him I can't but wonder
all we might have missed
and so look forward
with great expectation.

But friends, that's exactly who we are: children of God. And that's only the beginning. Who knows how we'll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we'll see him—and in seeing him, become like him. All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus' life as a model for our own. 1 John 3:2-3 The Message

Running from and falling into - Joy

I spent the first eighty percent of my life wild, blind in the world
driven by passions, confused, misdirected, all self,
all need ever growing, demanding satisfaction
without knowing what would fill that void.
What would bring happiness and what would happiness bring?

As year piled onto year
the highs grew unattractive, always followed by shattering lows.
My heart responded to the beckoning lie of the flatline - "It is safer here."
While I might have hoped for the best I lived in expectation of much less.

When I met the One Who had been waiting, I learned much.
How joy prevails, even in the absence of happiness.
What the mind conceives, however, has a long ongoing journey to reach the heart
and the disapointed parts of me practiced the running from joy
weary of the sadness that might follow.

Yet He holds me still. 
He asks me to surrender, my fear, my brokeness, my bitter forecasts.
As I run from who I thought I was I fall into Who He Is.
What greater love!
What greater joy!

I'm jamming with Bonnie today at Faith Barista

and also joining my broken pieces with others at Emily's In the Hush of the Moon

Persevere and expectation

As 2010 began the Lord gave me the word acceleration and promised that I could break free from the fear of man.  True always to His Word the year moved with ever increasing speed and as it drew to a close that acceleration seemed to thrust me into 2011.  I found myself again seeking Him for His hand and heart of direction, journal at the ready to record what He would share:

Lord God, I am looking to You for a guiding word and scripture for the year ahead.  Rick's word of blessing last night was persevere and I submit that word back to You.

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.” And, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.”  But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved. Hebrews 10:35-39 NIV

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.  James 1:12 NIV


Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us Hebrews 12:1 NIV
 
Continue to search My Word for more -
Persevere in faith
Persevere in trust
Persevere in hope
Know that I Am with you
 
As you stand, as you persevere, and yes, as you wait, little one, let this also be a year of expectation.
 
This is the time to hope in My glory.  This is the time to expect not only the best of Me but the best from yourself - for as you have surrendered and submitted that "self" to Me it is indeed My life and My power alive in you.
 
Surely I have said even greater things will you do than I have done while I walked the earth.
 
Only believe, My child, that you are loved, chosen to be light, an agent of change in the darkness.
 
Expect my love.  Expect My grace.  Expect My will to prevail.

And so, with the power of Christ alive in me, I will stand, I will wait, I will persevere and walk through the year ahead of me with great expectation of His glory revealed.

Stop by and jam with us at Bonnie's Faith Barista as we share our words for the new year.