Great Expectations
by Elder Lynn Stapleton
As a Christian and a believer in God, I am convinced that it pleases the Lord
for His people to have great expectations of Him. It is the responsibility of
every believer to exalt and praise the Lord. Our great expectations of His power
and goodness is one way of fulfilling that responsibility.
Ecclesiastes 11:6 says, In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold
not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that,
or whether they both shall be alike good." I can see in this verse a simple
illustration of the farmer, having sown his seed, waiting anxiously for the
harvest. But I also see the image of a man standing before a gracious God with
his arms outstretched having great expectations that the Lord is going to fill
his hands with good things.
"Just as the farmer plows his fields and sows the seed with the expectation he
will receive a good harvest, we as Christians can expect a similar harvest
spiritually."
It is God's good pleasure to bless His people. God's word promises great
blessings to those who serve Him.
Galatians 6:7-8 reveals that we may expect to reap according to the nature of
things we sow. " Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth
that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap
corruption: but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life
everlasting." We may also expect a harvest equal to the quantity of what is
sown. "But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and
he which soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully." (2 Cor. 9:6)
Most everyone has planted seeds in the ground and watched for those seeds to
germinate and grow. There is hardly anything more lifeless looking than a dried
and wrinkled seed, yet knowledge and experience have taught us to expect good
things to grow out of them. The wisdom of God is apparent in the creation of
those tiny seeds from which we obtain much of what we eat. From the beginning,
God has given us powerful object lessons about faith. After years of sowing in
faith and reaping bountifully, we have reason to have great expectations.
The same is true of spiritual things. Jesus taught His disciples with parables
using real and familiar life experiences. Matthew 13 contains the Lord's parable
of the sower and the parable of the wheat and tares. Both of them teach us about
the nature of sowing and reaping.
When I was a little child, my mother took my brother and me out into the yard
and helped us prepare a small garden spot. She put some Indian corn in our
little hands and showed us how to plant it. The next day we looked to see what
had grown from the seed and there was nothing. After several days of looking and
seeing nothing my brother and I began to ask when will it ever come up. She told
us to be patient and reassured us that the seed was good and would soon begin to
grow. We were elated when we saw the first shoots of corn coming through the
ground.
God has done nothing less for us. He has demonstrated again and again that we
can sow with confidence and look for good harvests. As Believers in God,
confidently sow your seeds in the morning, and in the evening come boldly before
His throne with outstretched hands and GREAT EXPECTATIONS!
