One thing that pains me to see is well-meaning people trying to support others with theology that isn’t accurate. For example, a dear woman watched her husband suffer from a serious illness. Throughout his struggle, her friends told her, “If you pray the right way, God will heal him.” When he passed away, these same friends sent her emails explaining how she must have prayed incorrectly and that’s why he died.
While these friends had good intentions, they were offering bad theology.
God isn’t up in heaven saying, “I really want to give you this miracle, but you’re just not praying the right way. You missed one step in my very strict formula and you missed one of the points….ah, I’m sorry, I’m just not able to give you that miracle.”
If that were true, it would paint a picture of God that isn’t loving—it would be cruel. So please understand: if you prayed for a miracle and it didn’t happen, it’s not because you lacked faith or did something wrong. You didn’t pray incorrectly. You didn’t mess up or anger God in some way.
God doesn’t operate like that. He loves you in every moment, no matter what. Jesus even said, “If you, as human beings, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to you?”.
When we go through tough experiences, it’s easy for Jesus to feel like just a cliché, and we might not expect much. But what would happen if, instead, we stepped into our day, every day, with an expectation? With an expectation that God CAN. God MIGHT. And if He doesn’t, that’s ok.
His ways are beyond our understanding. He is loving, active, and moving in our journey. Our responsibility is to have the expectation that He CAN. Expectations that are God-sized. We get a front-row seat to watching God doing miracles in His way, and in His time!
God is moving among His people, and He is ready to move in your life too. So I ask you: how big are your expectations today?
In faith,
Roy
