My mom fell and fractured her shoulder. Everything from that moment shifted as life became centred around her care. That was certainly not in my plans and it meant putting everything on hold to look after her.
Have any of you faced situations where your life was derailed. How did you respond?
Difficult things happen to each one of us. Life doesn’t always go the way we had planned as unexpected events arise in health, employment, relationships, or finances. It is part of life.
Jesus said in John 16:33 And everything I’ve taught you is so that the peace which is in me will be in you and will give you great confidence as you rest in me. For in this unbelieving world you will experience trouble and sorrows, but you must be courageous, for I have conquered the world!”
Therefore, WHO we put our trust in when facing difficulties, determines how we overcome.
I love my mom and was willing to sacrifice, yet part of me was frustrated. I had to stop everything that was on my agenda; family, work, and ministry to minister to her. Truthfully, at times I had questions like; “How am I going to finish that work project?” “Will this end?” “Who else is going help her?” “What about time with my family?” My life became consumed with her care and comfort as I took on the responsibility, maybe more than required. But I saw her in pain and suffering and could not leave her like that.
BUT God… He was teaching us during that time together, to enter everyday with expectation!
Have you been able to be grateful, and stay in faith during difficult times or have you been complaining and in doubt?
My husband Mark Redner gave my mom and I prophetic word that God would bring
surprises our way.
What surprise could come out of this day? We are both feeling unwell, she was in pain, I had to run around and try and get all the details settled before taking her to my home. Yet, that word gave us hope and so with eager anticipation we looked for the blessing at every moment. We would say to one another, “I wonder what blessings God has ready for us?”
The simple things became the greatest blessings. We experienced blessings that we would have passed by if we weren’t looking.
Expectation is faith in action, the doorway to our blessing.
What I love about my mom is that she was able to look at all the challenging days as blessings from God.
For example, on Christmas Day we were in a hotel because she was weak, and we wanted to make sure she was able to rest apart from the busyness of family. God told us to cultivate a heart of gratitude. So everything that was negative, we turned into thanksgiving. When we would feel sorry for ourselves because we couldn’t be at home with the family, we would turn it into gratitude thanking God for a warm place, a comfortable bed, and that we were able to get rest and gain strength.
Another example was the three times mom had to go into emergency. Though she was sick, she would say, “I wonder who God has for me to meet today?” On all 3 visits, she was able to pray with individuals. Even in her most difficult moment, she was looking to see, with expectation, what blessing would come out of the day.
Through the difficult time, God was highlighting His truth; Expectation is the doorway to blessing. Our response was required. Would we look at the problem with expectation or with fear and doubt?
Expectation, the doorway to blessing requires from us;
1. Perseverance
But we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
Romans 8:25
There is a hope inside our heart when we have expectation. The hope is to see manifest, what we haven’t yet seen. Expectation comes with anticipation, and as we wait to see, we must persevere in faith, believing that God is good. Until His goodness is seen.
2. Putting our faith in God alone
I am standing in absolute stillness, silent before the one I love, waiting as long as it takes for him to rescue me. Only God is my Savior, and he will not fail me.. Psalm 62:5 TPT
Our expectation is not to be in a person or lottery win to rescue us. God alone, is our rescuer. As we wait on Him, HE sets the right people, the right resources, encouragement and hope in our pathway, so we can keep moving forward, one day at a time.
3. Eager watchfulness
In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch. Psalm 5:3
When we expect, we are setting our eyes toward hope. God is our source of HOPE. We entrust our cares into His hands, and look for Him. When we look at our situation with negativity, and doubt, we will miss the blessings along the way, but as we look with eager anticipation, we will see He is for us, not against us.
If your faith remains strong, even while surrounded by life's difficulties, you will continue to experience the untold blessings of God! James 1:12 TPT
Where is your expectation? Put your hope in God…(Psalm 43:5) He is the doorway to your blessing. As you look with expectation, you will see that God loves you, is looking after you and ordering your steps!
- Kiwanda Redner
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