From Believing to Expecting

I came across a picture of Sierra,one of my granddaughters, with an empty Easter basket but a huge smile on her face. I know why she was smiling. She was expecting to fill that basket with goodies! She was prepared. She had a big enough basket to hold everything. She was hopeful and positive, and she was putting actions with her expectations.

That is a good example of how we are supposed to start receiving. Dr. Bruce Wilkinson says, "Asking is the beginning of receiving. Through a simple believing prayer, you can change your future. You can change what happens one minute from now." James 5:7 says, "Be patient as you wait. See how the farmer waits expectantly." James 2:17 says, "Faith without corresponding actions is dead." That's why Sierra had an Easter basket and was ready to hunt for eggs when I snapped that photo. She was putting actions behind her belief. She was making preparations!

Isaiah 40:31 says, "Those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint." Sierra, making preparations in a small area, such as getting out an Easter basket to prepare for finding eggs and other goodies is just a little example of getting ready to receive God's blessings. We may have bigger expectations in our hearts. But the one thing we can learn from a child is to have simple faith and put actions behind that faith.

Sometimes we need to ignore negative reports. Maybe someone will say, "You can't do that." Maybe we will start to sabotage our own efforts by telling ourselves we can't do something. I remember that in 2005, I was so tired of being overweight. I had tried many times before to lose weight, but this particular time my husband was going to eat healthy right along with me. That, along with some other things happening in my life, inspired me, and eventually I lost 66.7 lbs. Now I'm struggling again with my weight because I've gained about 30 of those pounds back, but guess what? I'm making preparations to lose those 30 pounds. I started a week ago and have already lost 3.4 of them.

Joel Osteen says, "Stretch your faith. Put some actions behind what you are believing God to do for you. Maybe you've just about given up on what God has put in your heart. You think your life is never going to get any better. It can, but you must rekindle the fire."

Like Sierra, I'm prepared. I bought the right kind of groceries. I went to my weight watcher meeting. I am keeping the right attitude. I'm going from believing to expecting. I will receive the desires of my heart. Thank You, Lord.