Jesus Can Blow Away Our Expectations

By Tracy Gordon

“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”  —Ephesians 3:20-21

In my last devotion, I shared with you that my daughter Holly was going on a 10-day medical mission trip to Iraq. By the grace of God, she has safely returned with amazing stories of hope, healing, and spiritual transformation.

At the time when she was preparing to go, I was really struggling with anxiety about the location and concern over her safety. The physical anxiety I was experiencing was almost unbearable. I finally began to look to Scripture to trust in the Lord with all of my heart and not lean on my own understanding. I rebuked the anxiety in Jesus’ name and prayed for the Lord’s peace that surpasses all understanding to be over me. I was reminded in the book of James that we are called to pray for each other, and that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. So, I called upon an army of prayer warriors—and I do mean army—to cover Holly and her missions team with prayers as they did the Lord’s work in the Middle East. I immediately began to visualize an army surrounding her just as the Secret Service would surround a president. I also began to experience intense moments of peace that are hard to explain and could only be from God.

Through this time, I started to question my expectations of God and felt badly that I might have been hoping and asking for His peace instead of expecting it. In Acts 3, Peter and John encounter a lame man at the temple gate who is begging for money. They turned the man’s attention to what Jesus could do for him instead of them. By Peter healing him in Jesus’ name, the man received drastically more than he expected. Rather than something to get him through another day (i.e. some coins), Jesus changed his entire life by healing him completely. We think ordinary, God thinks extraordinary. We think “let me have enough to get by,” God thinks abundance. We think “let me manage this addiction,” God thinks freedom. We’re asking for possible when God wants to do the impossible. He specializes in exceeding our expectations.

When Holly returned, she said she NEVER felt scared, unsafe, uncomfortable, or anxious while on the mission. She had total peace. I shared with her that I too had such a peace while she was gone that was totally unexpected because of the way I was feeling before she left. She got a big smile on her face and exclaimed, “That was my prayer for you, Mom!” Wow, Jesus blew away our expectations!

What a great reminder that God’s got us. No circumstance is too big. His care and love go beyond our wildest expectations. There is no end to what He can do and there is a promised and assured deliverance from Him. After this experience the verse from Ephesians—“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!”—became crystal clear to me. Time and time again, God shows that He has such goodness for us. We need to give Him something to work with and pray with thanksgiving that He is going to exceed our expectations, taking us where we could not go on our own.

Lord Jesus, Thank You that You never cease to amaze us and want to show us Your great goodness. You are the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Please help us to increase our hope and faith in You, knowing You can exceed our wildest expectations. In Your precious name Jesus, we pray. Amen!