Anticipating God

There are days when we anticipate seeing/hearing/sensing God. Like when you go to church (I hope). Then there are days when you don't expect to see, hear, or sense anything. Like a Monday morning for instance (sound familiar?). The reality that I'm learning to live with is that we can anticipate Him showing up just about anywhere, through just about anyone and/or anything.

It's in those moments when you realize that most of the sacred/secular designations we place upon things is totally our doing. When the Lord reveals Himself through someone, or something, other than our pre-conceived notions, we realize that He hasn't wrapped Himself up in a book. He hasn't designated Himself to our buildings, our rituals, or our traditions. The fact that the Holy Spirit is so active in the earth right now gives Him the right to reveal Himself any way He chooses.

I live with anticipation.

Anticipation is not expectation. Knowing the difference can keep us from a lot of disappointment. How many times have we expected God to move in a certain way and it didn't happen? For whatever reason, He just didn't show up the way we expected. Anticipation on the other hand regards the movement of God as probable. It's living with hope. It means going through life with discernment. It requires a depth to our spirituality that we can often overlook. I mean...how many times has the Lord showed up in something we considered not right or not holy? How many times have we missed His voice because it came through something we considered religious? Anticipation leads us to live in such a way that we are sensitive to the Lord in every circumstance.

Go back through the Bible sometime and see how many times the Lord showed up in a way that nobody could have predicted. If anything, see that Jesus came as the Messiah in a way that the religious leaders were not anticipating. It seems that the only people group of people who had an anticipation about them was a group of stargazers who showed up at His birth. Not exactly the crowd you would have expected. But their anticipation of something happening led them to an amazing experience.

I was reminded of the joy of anticipation this morning when I downloaded the new U2 album. Apparently Apple & U2 have this incredible partnership and they gave the album away for free. I had some anticipation about the album because of the people I knew that were already downloading it & because Bono always finds a way to allow the Lord to sing through him. What I did not expect was that the goodness of God would show up through so many of the songs. One of the songs on the album is titled "Song for Someone" and is nothing less than a prophetic declaration. I imagined Bono just walking through the streets like the minstrels of old, declaring the glory of God for someone to hear, filling the earth with God's goodness. There are songs, much like this one, that are so true to Bono that the Lord cannot help but being a part of them. As I listened, I could not help but think this is an amazing work of worship disguised as a rock album. Or maybe it's the other way around. God doesn't need the distinction.

While many of us have experienced the Lord in significant ways - ways in which we did not expect. How many of us have learned to carry the anticipation? How many of us have woke up with the idea that it is very probable that the Lord could move even on a Monday? How many of us realize that God doesn't need a Sunday morning gathering to make Himself known?

This works for the non-religious as well. How many of them showed up at a church service not expecting, or anticipating, anything? How many have stayed away from gatherings because they don't believe God has any part in them. Oh, I have heard some of those surprising statements as well. Times when the Lord spoke through someone, some act of worship, or some song. They were totally blown away.

We were designed to experience our Heavenly Father. We are meant to hear Him call our names. Part of the journey we are on requires that we have eyes to see & ears to hear. He may be speaking to you through the Scriptures. He may use the preacher. He could be speaking to you through your child. Or He may even use your circumstances just to reveal how near He is to you. Will you see Him? Can you hear Him in the chaos? Can you sense His presence? This is what walking in the Spirit allows into our lives. It keeps us from always being caught up in the natural. It causes us to look much deeper. It reminds us that we are children of God even when we may feel abandoned.

Anticipation allows us to experience God in unexpected places and through unexpected people. It calls to remembrance the words of Scripture, "set your mind on things above." It's part of the process of seeing Heaven Invade Earth.

Father,
We realize that things are not always what they seem. We choose to live in anticipation. We believe that you can show up at any time, in any way, and through any one that you choose. May we be sensitive to your heart & the movement of your Holy Spirit. We don't want to miss a moment.
In Jesus we pray,
Amen