What Your Faith Expects
Written by Jarred Rushing
(6 minutes)
As Jesus left the house, two blind men began following him, shouting out over and over, "Son of David, show us mercy and heal us!" And they followed him right into the house where Jesus was staying. So Jesus asked them, "Do you believe that I have the power to restore sight to your eyes?" They replied, "Yes Lord, we believe!" Then Jesus put his hands over their eyes and said, "You will have what your faith expects!" And instantly their eyes opened--they could see! (Matthew 9:27-30)
You will have what your faith expects.
There is a Kingdom principle wrapped up in that tiny phrase that could change our lives. What if, right now, we are only able to receive what our faith expects? In six short sentences, we have two blind men combining their hunger for Jesus with their high, faith-filled expectations, and look what happens. In six short sentences, two ordinary guys go from blindness to restored sight. What would happen if we took our hunger for the feet of Jesus and started marrying that with some real expectancy? These blind men couldn't see, but they had vision. The faith and hope they had allowed them to expect something from the Anointed One that had not been realized yet.
What if the Kingdom principle is as simple as this: you will get what your faith expects every time.
What if this whole day was hinged on what your faith in Yahweh was expecting? What would be in store? Would anything happen at all? Would it be an exciting adventure, filled with miracles and intimate whispers around every corner? Or would it be stale and stagnant? If it was up to your faith to decide, what would we encounter today?
Now faith brings our hopes into reality and becomes the foundation needed to acquire the things we long for. It is all the evidence required to prove what is still unseen. (Hebrews 11:1)
I need to stop for a moment and help us with some definitions because, for a long time, we have been confused when it comes to faith. Faith is not your wishful thinking. Faith is not what you are praying and believing for. Faith is your being convinced that Yahweh is real and that He loves to reward those who passionately seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6) Faith is your being convinced that He is not only God, but He is also good. Faith is your deep conviction that He's not just able to do things for you, He desires and finds His greatest delight in lavishing you with love. Faith is not suspicious; it is your restful trust in Abba's love. It's your confidence and assurance that flows from your being intimate with Yahweh and knowing His nature. And when that faith is combined with hope, we start to acquire the things we long for. Hope is our expectations, our deep longings, and what we are excited to see come to pass.
Our faith in Yahweh brings our hopeful expectations into reality.
The marrying of these two things is how we acquire what we long for.
Two blind men received exactly what their faith was expecting.
Pastor Tim mentioned on Sunday that "staring at His goodness will change what we expect." Our being convinced of Abba's nature will transform what we think is possible. Some of us are still detoxing from the image of God that religion sold us. We're still in the process of relearning and letting Yahweh teach us all over again who He is and how He feels about us. And as our faith in Him rises, we'll notice that our hopes and expectations will begin to rise too. It does take time and time is best described as "history with God." Faith comes naturally to us when we have a history with something. I'm pretty confident that none of us go into our homes and inspect the integrity of our chairs before we sit down in them. That's because we have a history with our chairs, and that history has produced faith in us, a restful trust that we can plop down on that chair and it won't betray us. We have more history with religion's distant and disapproving God than we do with the real One we know as Abba. That's why we're still leery around Him, suspecting that the other shoe will soon drop and our worst nightmare will have come true. The old image of God that we inherited from religion has left us suspicious. You know how it feels to sit on an old, decrepit chair. You never give your whole self to it. You're always halfway seated and halfway ready to stand up. This posture is not one of faith. You'll never be truly rested and trusting in that chair, and the same applies if that's your posture with Yahweh. This relationship requires faith, restful trust. When it comes to Abba, you have to throw your whole self into Him and His love. Halfway won't work. You must be seated!
Let's build our history with Yahweh today as we take a walk with Him. Let's stare at His goodness until we can't help but hope for bigger things. A true revelation of His goodness won't allow us to carry ordinary expectations. It definitely won't allow us to carry no expectations at all.
What is my faith expecting?
Take this question on your walk with Abba and let His love introduce you to new expectations. Higher expectations. Hopes and dreams that His goodness will still outdo and outshine every single time.
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Worship: "Come to the River" by Housefires
Honor: Give Online to The Wilderness Place
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