Anticipate Him

Laying in my bed with three fleece blankets and my quilt all on top of me I was very snuggly. However, I was awake. The clock across the room was staring back at me mocking me with its bright red numbers; 2:34. I laid there for a bit longer. Then I decided to plant my feet on the ground and make my way to the bathroom. Once I was done, I made my way back to my snuggly bed. I laid back down slowly. Once back in my bed with all four of my covers on top of me I could feel that my nose was dripping a bit. Worry set in. Just a couple of months ago I had experienced a nose bleed start that way. My palms got very sweaty and my heart started to race. I did not want to have yet another nose bleed….one of many since the beginning of the year. So, I worried and thought, do I even dare try to wipe at it? Do I dare sit up? The worry continued…. but then I remembered what I had heard earlier that day at a women’s faith conference. So simple: Anticipate Him. It seemed so simple, so then I decided to pray. I asked Him to calm me and to simply embrace me during that moment in time. It worked! At that moment, I felt my heart rate slow and my palms became less sweaty. I expected Him to show up for me at that moment of need and He did.

Are you expecting Him? Do you expect Him to show up during both your small and big moments? Do you trust Him to show up at that very moment when you need Him? When you reach out your hand do you expect His to grab yours? Are you even holding out your hand? Do you believe that no matter how long you wait for an answer that He will provide? Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him (1 John 3:21-22 NLT).

Has He been faithful to you in the past? Do you not believe that He will continue to be faithful to you going forward? I remember clearly when I first reached out to Him. I had just learned that the uncle that I had gotten to know well over the summer was in the hospital with an aggressive form of cancer. I came to Him that night not knowing how to pray, if God existed, what I believed, or much of anything about faith. I prayed a bedtime prayer that was on my wall given to me as a baby by one of my aunt’s. I also asked God to heal my uncle. Unfortunately, I was disappointed, and God didn’t deliver what I wanted. Let me restate that: God DIDN’T deliver what I WANTED. However, I believe He did deliver what He had in store for my life. You see, I opened this door for Him. I had a little faith that He was going to do what I asked Him to do. I expected Him that He was going to show up for me that night. While He might not have shown up the way that I expected Him to, He showed up in His on way for me in His own time.

Do you expect Him to care enough about you and your small moments to show up like He did during my worry time while thinking about the possibility of yet another nose bleed? Will He show up for you like He did for me when I once forgot to complete an assignment in college? That professor waved the assignment for the whole class since so many had forgotten about it. Will He show up when you are tempted to walk away from being baptized even though you already committed to it? He did for me. It might not have been at the moment I wanted it, but He showed up at the exact moment that was best for that part of my story. Will he show up for your friend’s unborn baby when all seems hopeless? All you asked was for mom to have five minutes with the baby. She has had years and counting! It might not be what she imagined, and it definitely isn’t all sparkles and glitter, but it shows that God does great things when you expect Him to show up!

Are you even reaching out your hand for Him to grab? Do you trust Him enough to hold out your hand? Do you pull your hand back at that very moment when you need Him? I hold this need to control my life very deep in my being. It is often hard to hold out my hand so boldly. I want to trust that He will be there to grab it. Have you ever thought about this? His hand is ALWAYS there. Yes, always there! Isn’t that amazing? You just have to be willing to reach your hand out. For me, I know I need to let go of my need to control it all and to trust that whatever He has in store for me that He will always be there. His hand will be there. This is ultimately a question of how much faith you have in that moment. Do you ultimately trust Him enough in that moment to give it all to Him? Can He have it all? Do you release your need to control to Him? If it is to be, He will help you step through it step by step. When you hit that brick wall, or what you think is a brick wall, He will give you a door in that brick wall if it is part of His plan for you. Trust Him. Through it all, His hand will be there.