God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
Numbers 23:19
Expectation can be defined as eager anticipation. It is what we predict the future to be according to our standards. But expectations can be both good and bad. We can expect, for example, for someone to let us down because they have before. Or likewise we can expect the best of people because they have shown themselves faithful. Our expectations are eventually tried in reality.
As a simple example I present my children’s bathroom etiquette. If we can call it that. After they have all had a bath or shower I expect that there will be water all over the floor, towels will be strewn everywhere, and clothes will not have made it to the hamper. Why is that what I expect? Because that is their track record.
With God there is an ancient track record of His goodness. There is an ancient track record of Him following through on His promises to individuals and nations.
He told Abraham that He would make him the father of many nations. And He did.
He told Moses that He would deliver the people from the Egyptians, and He did.
He told Joshua He would be with Him in battle to take the Promised Land, and He was before, during, and after the land was taken.
He told David that He would be King, and He was.
He also told David that the Messiah would come from His family line, and He did.
He told the people through many prophets that the Savior would be born of a virgin, be born in Bethlehem, spend time in Egypt, be rejected, come riding on a colt, be betrayed, and be crucified, and He was.
He told the disciples He would be crucified, suffer, die, and be raised again, and He was.
So God is faithful to perform what He has said He would and will. These testimonies of God’s faithfulness breed hope and an expectation that He will come through for us. It ignites gratitude that He took the time to share the stories of His faithfulness with us so that we would be encouraged.
If you peek into the promises you will recognize there was significant reason to doubt as each of the people who were promised had to wait on the Lord. We too have circumstances that have us questioning the promises God has made. But we can at those times place our expectation in the God who was faithful to perform all those things and more in the past. Expectation with gratitude for His faithfulness to us.
We even have stories from our own lives that remind us that God has been faithful to us. So today let’s take our expectation out of man, out of money, out of ourselves, and place it in the God who is faithful to perform the promises. Let’s express gratitude for how He has been faithful to us.
David said something profound about waiting on the Lord and placing your expectation in Him. I share it with you that you may cling to those words while remembering what He has promised you.
I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.
Psalm 27:13-14
Another Samaritan Woman 
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