The Relationship Between Faith And Expectations

Faith and Expectation are not the same thing? Although they are closely related, faith and expectation are distinctly different. You can have faith without expectation but you can’t have expectation without faith.
Many believe the Bible is true. They have faith in promises of the Bible and believe scriptures like Isaiah 53:5 when it says:
“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
They believe it’s a provision of the Word that God heals, but they don’t expect healing to manifest in their own lives. It’s almost as though they’ve been sick for so long that they simply cannot imagine they could ever be healed.
I am reminded of the story of a young man that went to see a palm reader. She began to read his palm and told the young man that he will be poor and miserable until the age of 41. The young man was a little saddened by the reading of his palm, but he had a glimpse of hope because he asked the palm reader – ‘At the age of 41 will I suddenly become rich?” The palm reader said, “No but by that time you will have become so used to being poor that it doesn’t make you miserable anymore”. Sadly that’s how many people are in church today, they become settled and comfortable with a certain condition that it doesn’t bother them anymore.
WHY? Because they have lost the expectation for something better. They are comfortable with coming to church and not seeing anyone healed, anyone saved or anyone delivered.
The Bible says in Mark 16:17: “And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues”.
If you don’t expect to see these things happening then they will not manifest. Expectation is the breeding ground for miracles.
Remember, I said you can have Faith without expectation but you can’t have Expectation without Faith. Understand that faith has to come first before expectation can exist. If you don’t believe that it’s the will of God for you to be healed, to be delivered, to prosper, to live life abundantly, then it’s highly doubtful you’ll expect to be healed, to be delivered, to prosper, or to live life abundantly. Expectation is built on faith but faith doesn’t imply expectation is there.
SO FAITH COMES FIRST: When you read the Word, you first decide to believe that it is God’s truth. The next thing that has to be done is you have to look at your expectation. Do you really expect what you read in the Bible to happen in your own life? Do you really expect doors to be opened for you that no man can close and doors closed in your life that no man can open? Do you really expect to be an heir of God and joint heir with Jesus Christ?
Do you truly expect to have life and have it more abundantly? You can and you should because your experience of life depends on it.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”.- Hebrews 11:1
No other aspect of the Christian life is more important than faith. We cannot purchase it, we cannot sell it, and we cannot give it to our friends. The dictionary defines faith as, “belief in, devotion to, or trust in somebody or something, especially without logical proof. It also defines faith as “belief in and devotion to God.” The Bible has much more to say about faith and how important it is. In fact, it is so important that, without faith it is impossible to please God.
Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. According to the Bible, faith is belief in the one true God without actually seeing Him”.
THE CUSTOM OF TZEDAKAH
The Bible says in Acts 3:2-5, “And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful to ask alms of them that entered into the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, – (NOW THIS IS ALL FAITH). Expecting to receive something of them.(HIS FAITH HAS NOW PRODUCED EXPECTATION) “He not only believes he is to receive something but he expects to receive. Faith brought him to the gate daily but Expectation caused him to receive a miracle.
The Jewish custom has what is called “Tzedakah” and it is the giving to the poor. Giving to the poor is an obligation in Judaism, a duty that cannot be forsaken even by those who are themselves in need. Some sages have said that Tzedakah is the highest of all commandments, equal to all of them combined, and that a person who does not perform Tzedakah is equivalent to an idol worshipper. So the lame man at the Gate Beautiful believed that people would help him this was his FAITH in the custom of Tzedakah – when he looked upon Peter and John his faith was that they would give him something (Alms) his expectation produced a miracle.
God wants us to release our faith and expect Him to supply the supernatural miracle we need and desire. He wants you to expand our capacity to receive by believing Him for BIG things! When you read a scripture from His Word, and receive it in your heart, without doubt, we should absolutely expect it to come to pass. There should be no question in our minds that what God said is exactly what He will do.
THE LAW OF EXPECTATION: THE CONCEPT OF EXPECTATION
Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.
Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.
Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.
And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.”-Joel 2:21-32
Let us all take a trip back to our childhood for a moment. Remember how you were the night before Christmas or your Birthday? You were excited, filled with anticipation, super exhilarated to the point that you could hardly contain yourself. You had trouble falling asleep and it felt like your heart was running 100 miles a second. You couldn’t wait until you were able to open your presents and see what you got. That’s expectation.
EXPECTATION is the act or state of looking forward to an event about to happen. That which is expected or looked for, the prospect of the future; grounds upon which something excellent is expected to happen; prospect of anything good to come.
I came across this statement of expectancy and thought it was great: To expect is to look forward to something regarding it as very likely to happen. It means anticipating the occurrence or the coming of something. It has to do with your attitude. And all of us eagles know that our attitude determines our altitude. Your atmosphere is closely linked to your attitude. Your atmosphere is the mood, the influence, the environment you surround yourself in. An atmosphere without expectation will kill your dreams. It destroys ingenuity.
Have you heard this saying that, “Expectation is the breeding ground for miracles”? If you want something to happen in your life you must expect for that thing to actually happen. Sadly many people today go to church, failing to become as little children, they just to go to church to go to church. They have no sense of expectation, there is no desire to see God manifest Himself so they walk out of the church exactly as they came in because there was no expectation for anything. They only came because of tradition and formality but were not expecting anything to take place.
A biblical definition of this would be 2 Timothy 3:5
“Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof…”
People will say well, I have faith and I believe in God. The Bible says in James 2:19, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble”. So believing is however not enough.
Your expectation is very vital to your experience of life.
Jeremiah 29:10, 11 says:“For thus saith the LORD, that after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end”.
That expected end is the end that God desires for you to have and in order for that desired end to manifest in your life you have to expect God to do what He said – not just know that He can but expect for Him to do it.
Someone may say but everyone in the Bible wasn’t healed. True but all those that came to Him with expectation walked away with a miracle.
Blind Bartimaeus received his sight because he had faith and expectation.
The paralytic took up his bed and walked because faith plus expectation produced a miracle.
The 10 lepers received their healing because they expected a change.
Jairus’ daughter was raised from the dead because faith plus expectation produced a miracle.
The Gentile woman’s daughter was delivered from demon possession because her faith and her expectation moved God to move supernaturally on her behalf (in other words, MIRACLE!)
The man with dropsy (which is called CHF today) was healed because Faith + Expectation = Miracles.
I was lost and on my way to Hell but one day Jesus reached down picked me up, cleaned me up, placed the Holy Ghost down on the inside. Now I am heaven bound because Faith + Expectation produced a promised miracle.
It is time for you to start expecting God to do some great and mighty things in your life. Your life is at the mercy of your mouth- speak those things which are not as though they are. Don’t use your mouth to describe your situation. Rather use it to declare your expectation – I EXPECT A MIRACLE EVERYDAY.
Only the expectation of the wicked shall perish!
“The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish”-
Proverbs 10:28
Isaiah 8:10 says every expectation of the wicked concerning you shall perish. They shall take counsel together, it shall not stand. Every word they spoke against you shall not stand in the name of Jesus Christ.