Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.
—Proverbs 13:12, NKJV
All of us have expectations in life. Some expectations are spoken and some aren’t. Whether spoken or not—conscious or subconscious, our expectations form our lives. An expectation can be described as strong anticipation, and it can be either positive or negative. Hope is a strong positive expectation of good. Without hope, the heart becomes sick and despairs. But when hope comes, it rises from deep within and brings forth life.
We are either positive in our outlook or negative. Some people expect to never have enough money, to always fail, to have problems, or never be well. And some of these same people declare, “I’m believing God for my promise,” but their negative outlook keeps them from exercising faith to believe. Your views of life, of God, and yourself are always found in your expectations. And your expectations will either kill your faith or encourage it to thrive. You cannot believe the promises of God at the same time you are expecting a life of failure and problems and illnesses.
If faith is the substance of hope (Hebrews 11:1) and hope is a strong anticipation of something good, then it is impossible to walk in faith when you live with negative expectations. If your expectations in life are negative, faith has no fertile soil to take root in your heart and grow. This is why what you think in your heart is so important. As you think you are in your heart, you are (Proverbs 23:7). A negative outlook is death to faith. A positive outlook is the heart of Holy Spirit faith.
For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.
—Matthew 12:34b-35, NKJV
When you are negative in your expectations, your heart overflows with things that speak fear and despair. When you are positive and believing God, you are full of hope and good expectations. What you speak comes out of the abundance of your heart—either that which offers no hope or that which gives life.
Hopeful expectations are powerful when the Word of God is believed in your heart. Let God’s Word flourish in your heart. His promises are yours, and they are yes and amen.
© 2021 Lynn Lacher
No comments:
Post a Comment