Anticipation

Growth in the natural world is all about looking forward. A tiny sapling becomes a large oak tree by growing slowly over time. An infant grows into a child, who eventually becomes an adult.

Hope is the same way – it looks forward. When a person has hope, they can imagine a better future. Hope is what allows you to look past your present circumstances and see through faith a better future. Without out hope, you can feel stuck in a relationship or stuck in your job.

To live a life that matters requires having faith-filled anticipation.

“True faith is never found alone; it is always accompanied by expectation. The person who believes the promises of God expects to see them fulfilled. Where there is no expectation there is no faith.” – A.W. Tozer

Our text is a short chapter from the longest book in the Bible. Most of the poems in the book of Psalm were written by King David. This one is anonymous. But it starts with words that could have been written by David …

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; 2 Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. 3 If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you (Psalm 130:1-4).

Who is the person that can expect God to act on their behalf?

It’s not the person who prays the most eloquent prayers. God’s receptivity has nothing to do with the length of your prayer. It has even less to do with the character of the person praying.

It has everything to do with God’s character – he is forgiving. It is his grace and mercy that allows us to live with faith-filled anticipation.

This is the message of the gospel. Because Jesus died on the cross for our sins, we have access to God’s blessing and power.

5 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. 6 I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning (Psalm 130:5-6).

Though we don’t know the author of Psalm 130 is, we do know they are living in an ancient world. Ancient cities were often built inside of walls to protect against attack. The watchman was a security guard, patrolling the lookout towers. This security guard has the night shift – when the enemy is most likely to attack.

It required being vigilant and alert. As you patrol the walls, you’re scanning for any suspicious activity. What is the one thing you long for? Morning! Sunlight means your shift is over. It also means the threat is almost over.

Here’s the catch: we are not naturally wired to wait. From the moment we are born, we are naturally impatient.

• It is hard to wait for wisdom.
• It is hard to wait for a breakthrough in a relationship.
• It is hard to wait for a new door to open.

This is why I believe that the ability to wait on Jesus is a learned skill. This kind of waiting is not passive – it’s active. We feed our anticipation by listening to him. We activate our anticipation by paying attention to what God is doing. As we are waiting, God is also working.

7 Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. 8 He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins (Psalm 130:7-8).

Here’s the good news – you don’t have to have it all together to do something great with your life. What does a divine safety net look like? It is that Jesus loves you with an unfailing love and offers you full redemption.

You don’t have to know how the whole next year or 5 years will unfold. You just have to be obedient to Jesus and keep moving forward.

Every person has a choice. You have a choice. What are your choices? You can choose to slumber and sleep through life – or you can choose to wake up and live life to the fullest.

That’s what I want for you – to have a faith that expects God to do great things in and through your life.