Disappointments and Divine Appointments
Wednesday, December 26, 2012 at 7:50PM 
Happy Wednesday, Friends!
And to those visiting, I say welcome! I post most Wednesdays and my sole purpose is to nourish your soul along the way. Every once in a while I give away fun stuff to those who post on my blog.
This week I’ll give away a couple copies of my NEW book, ‘Your Beautiful Purpose’ (releases in January). So share a thought or insight, bless lots of people, and you might win a copy of Your Beautiful Purpose: Discovering and Enjoying What God Can Do Through You. I’m excited about this book. I pray it blesses you!
Now on to my topic…
Several years ago my mentor said these compelling words to me: Susie, there’s a big difference between expectation and expectancy. Expectation is premeditated disappointment, where expectancy involves faith. Expectation means you’ve decided how things need to turn out for you to be okay; expectancy engages your faith in the fact that God is involved in your life, but it opens up the possibility that He may come through for you in a way and at a time that you least expect.
Wow, wise words, wouldn’t you say?
I don’t know what kind of year you’ve had but for me, it’s been a bittersweet one. On one hand we’ve seen God move in ways that have completely inspired our faith, and on the other hand, we’ve experienced loss and heartbreak in ways that have left me breathless.
Can you relate?
What are we to do with the very real sense of loss, disappointment, and heartbreak we encounter along life’s way? How do we keep our disappointments from tangling us up, from strangling our joy, and from skewing our perspective?
The answer, I believe, is this:
To release expectation
To embrace expectancy
It’s time to open our clenched fists and release the crinkled picture of how we thought things would look by now. It’s time to hand it over to the One who knows us best and loves us most. God has a bigger canvas and a far bigger brush. He can paint something beautiful with our lives and with our story that we can’t even comprehend right now. We need to give Him time and space to work in, through, and around us. It’s time to release our puny, detailed expectation of what we think our lives should look like.
And, it’s time to pick up expectancy and to wrap our arms around the fact that Jesus is alive and active in our lives. He moves on faith. Fear doesn’t motivate Him. Faith does. So as we embrace His love and trust His promise to hear our prayers and respond to our faith, we can know, that any day now, Jesus will break through in ways that surprise us.
We’re never out of His care, never out of His reach. He is the God of breakthroughs and He loves to break through when the time is right.
Embrace expectancy. Tell yourself that any day now, you’ll see glimpses of glory and evidences of His activity in your life. Because it’s true; right now, He’s moving on your behalf.
Look up. Seek Him. You’ll find Him. He’s got you. And your faith pleases Him greatly.
~Have a blessed week!
Reader Comments (34)
Susie,
Thank you for these words to start a new year. I love the thought that God can do more in our lives with where we are right now than we can even imagine. That's how 2012 was for me and I look forward to 2013 with expectancy, not expectation. I love that!
Excellent! I've been thinking about how important it is to walk by faith and not sight. I say I believe what the Bible say, but then I act in a contrary way...i.e. supplying all my needs. Your description of expectation and expectancy just add another layer to this thought process. Thank you for taking the time to share this with the rest of us!
looking forward to your new book ... loved Uncommon Woman ... so much so we read it with two groups of women here ... all were tremendously blessed ... God is so good ... keep going ... keep on! much love,
Heidi
I love this, Susie. It's so timely for me. I'm in that place where I know God is going to do something but I don't know what. Thanks for the reminder to release everything to His capable hands.
I needed to read this post...I have expectations, like how I would like to see things go with my job, my children, my relationships. I expected a lot this year, but I have been hurt, disappointed and let down. In the last couple of weeks I've had to surrender and embrace "expectancy". I may not know how things will turn out with my job, my kids or the difficult relationships in my life but I am praying that I see glimpses of glory and evidence of His activity in my life.
I just received Your Beautiful Purpose in the mail, I plan on reading it as part of a New Year of expectancy of what my purpose is for the new year.
Great post! I love when you said "He can paint something beautiful with our lives and with our story that we can’t even comprehend right now."
Thanks for posting Susie. I enjoy listening to your radio show. Now I can enjoy our blog also. I have experienced so much sorrow in 2012 with over 15 close family and friends in the first 8 months of this year going home to our Lord. Now I am working to allow God to work in my life in his ways and not mine. Very difficult to do but I keep trying. May our Lord continue to bless you and your ministry.
Hi Susie,
My calling is to help others find and fulfill their calling and I'm so glad to have found your site this week.
Thank you for your very insightful articles. I look forward to learning from you!
Blessings,
Leanne Golan
Providence Coaching
Susie, I just discovered you today via LIFE TODAY broadcast. I'm already blessed by what I've heard this morning and read on your blog.
This piece (dec 26th) spoke volumes to me, and yet it relates to many of my friends as well; as several of us are experiencing the "disappointment & heartbreak" of ministries ended and closed doors. Thank you for your encouraging words to embrace expectancy!