At The End of the Day... You Get What You Expect!

As Piper and I and our pooch stepped out for our first walk of the day yesterday with a watchful eye on the heavens as it was getting darker by the moment, I found myself discussing my personal experience with the Word that I mentioned in the day’s blog post.  I was telling her how that after a while in the Word, that I suddenly noticed that my entire mood had changed.  Without really noticing the moment it actually occurred, the Monday “blaws” had been replaced by an excitement and anticipation of good things ahead.  While relating this to her I paused in mid step because I became aware that the whole experience had been preceded by one other important step that I failed to see yesterday.  When I had sat down to begin my Bible Study, I fully expected the Word to dissolve the “blaws” that I was fighting at the time!  And you know what… It did!

I was reading in a classic book entitled “Healing the Sick” by T.L. Osborn, who along with his wife Daisy travelled the world holding huge Healing Meetings where literally hundreds of thousands received their healings from just about every imaginable sickness and disease, commented that in their experience they quickly learned that the people that came to their meetings received exactly what they expected!  Those who were built up in the Word of God and expected God to do what He said He would do received their healings.  Those who didn’t expect, went away with what they expected… absolutely nothing!

I realized this morning as I pondered all this, that I’ve come to the point that I get excited and expectant just looking at my Bible!  When I see it I am reminded of the manifestations of His presence, His Power and His goodness that I have experienced over the years!  That revelation reminded me of the time years back when I had sort of an embarrassing experience when I got to work at Agilent Technologies and noticed something lying under my briefcase on the passenger seat.

The house we were renting at the time had the washer and dryer in the garage.  We always kept both of our cars in the garage with mine on the right near the washer and dryer.  Since I was gone most days, that made it easier for my wife and the kids to do the laundry during the day.  At night or on weekends the car was there and since I didn’t want anyone to potentially scratch the car, I had requested that no one pile laundry on the Camaro.  As a compromise, I yielded to Piper’s request that I keep the passenger window open so that they could put laundry on the seat of the car if necessary, instead of on top of it!

On this particular day I had an early morning meeting and left just before daylight.  When I entered the car I tossed my briefcase on the passenger seat, rolled up the window and thought nothing about it until I parked in the parking lot that was now lit up with the first rays of sunlight.  I had reached over to get my briefcase at the same time I noticed a co-worker walking toward the car.  I nodded to him, picked up the case and then noticed a pair of Piper’s undergarments on the seat that must have been left behind from the previous evening’s laundry!

Well, I am sure that I probably turned beet red as I quickly grabbed them and stuffed them under the seat just as my fellow supervisor bent down to greet me at the window!  He never asked why I was so red and a bit flustered and I never said anything about it.  That one piece of clothing sure did make me think about my wife throughout the rest of the day though!  I think I mentally re-lived every fun time that we had from our dating days in High School up to and including the current time!  By the time I got home I couldn’t wait to give her a hug and relate the funny experience of the morning… and those throughout the day that reminded me of her! 

I think that this is the same way that Papa God wants us to think about and be expectant of Him and His Word whenever we come into contact with it.  I believe that is called faith!  As you know, I especially like the way that the God’s Word translation states the classic definition of faith as found in Hebrews 11:1 declaring that: “Faith assures us of things we EXPECT and convinces us of the existence of things we cannot (yet) see.”  That statement by the writer of Hebrews tends to agree with T.L. Osborn’s statement that we get what we expect!  (Or I guess, it is actually the other way around!)

So for you and me, it comes down to the thought, that at the end of the day, what are you EXPECTING from your relationship with Papa God, His Son, the Holy Ghost living in you and the truth of His Word?  Are you expecting to be changed when you come into contact with Him?  Do thoughts of Him and His word excite you?  Well, I think they should!  Have a great and exciting day.  Stay in tune and lit up by His Word and keep asking yourself… “What am I EXPECTING today?”