Have you ever gone on a ministry trip to another country? Maybe you have been to Mexico, or somewhere overseas like Southern America or Africa. What always amazes me when I go on a trip like this, is the powerful ways God shows up.
Every time I go, God does amazing things, and every time it's like I'm surprised when he does. Then, after the trip is over, I return home where everything is back to “normal”. Normal life, normal job, normal church, and normal moves of God. Not that he is not doing things in and through me, they are just normal. Connecting with others, chatting with the neighbor, inviting a coworker to church, meeting with people through the week. It all just goes back to normal.
Every time I ask myself, Why does God not do the same things here as he does when I'm on a Ministry trip? Why don't I see God show up in huge ways here at home? I think there are a few reasons why that is, but I want to focus on one in particular.
Expectation…
When I am traveling to another nation, or even to a ministry trip here in the US, I am going with the expectation that God is going to show up. Before I leave I find myself praying with expectancy into the things that we are going to be doing, and the people that we will encounter while we are there. I am trusting that God is going to move and walk in faith that he will. I am expectant.
Let me give you an example. I recently took a group of teens from our church to a conference. Before one of the evening sessions my friend Caleb came to me and said that he would like to make time for some prophetic words that evening and to be ready if I had anything. During worship I began praying and asking God to give me words for individuals, and sure enough, that is what he did. I was able to share these words with the individuals and it was clear that the words I shared had a significant impact on many of them.
Again, God came through in big ways, and again I was surprised. After the evening was over I had a thought come to my mind… When was the last time on a Sunday morning that I asked the Holy Spirit to give me a word for an individual? There have been many occurrences that I have felt an impression to share with the church, but when was the last time I asked God to give me a word for someone.
I realized that I don't always come expecting God to do something. I am simply showing up. In living my normal life, I am just there. Just talking to the neighbor, just dropping the kids off at school, just stopping by the grocery store. I am not expecting God to move.
I want to leave you with this. If we want to see an increase in our impact for God’s kingdom we need to have an increase in our level of expectation. When we get up in the morning we need to be getting ourselves ready spiritually for what God has for us. We need to be asking God for words to speak, for our eyes and ears to be open so that we can recognize what he has for us to do for the day. Just like when we are preparing to go on a mission trip, we need to prepare ourselves for the day. We need to live every day expectant that he is going to move in powerful ways. Acts 1:8 says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”