expect the Lord.

“Don’t expect an outcome. Expect the Lord.” — a piece of advice I heard on a podcast that stuck with me.

God has been challenging me on how much I focus on the outcome. (Can you tell?)

So much of my thought life and my decision-making revolves around the question, “Will this take me where I want to go?”

Or, to sound more spiritual, “Will it take me where I think God is leading me?”

Sometimes, rather than listening to what God is asking of me today and immediately saying yes in obedience, I hesitate. I have a tendency to think that some of what He asks me to do won’t move me in the right direction.

So I pause. I resist. I question the all-knowing God on whether He really knows what He’s doing, or if He even sees the situation at hand. It’s ridiculous to think I could know better, and yet sometimes I think I do.

Recently, I read through Proverbs and this verse (Proverbs 27:1) popped out at me: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”

The word for “bring” is often used when referring to a midwife. Which, in this context, paints a picture that something could be birthed tomorrow that is not here today — and it could change everything.

It makes me wonder what is growing and developing that I can’t see yet.

I can’t know what the future holds or what the outcome might be, even if I meticulously planned it down to the smallest detail. Expecting an outcome is futile. And stressful.

But flipping my expectation from the outcome to the Lord means not worrying about if something specific happens, but rather feeling hopeful for how God will move.

It’s refocusing my lens to look for that thing that is not yet seen, but could come about tomorrow. It’s waking up every day and not asking, “Will this thing I’ve been waiting for happen?” And instead asking, “How might I see God move today?”

If God takes what the enemy meant for evil, works in every detail, and turns it for good, then His fingerprints are all around. His hand is at work. Do you see it?

You might not know what will happen, how it ends, or what tomorrow might bring. But you can be sure that God will be there. Hope will be there. Joy will be there. Love will be there.

Look for it. Expect the Lord.

The power of God is in you, even on a Thursday.