"Expectations"

"Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth."  Luke 8:22

Last night at Bible study we talked about expectations.  We looked at Luke chapter 8 and discussed in each account the expectations of Jesus toward the people and their expectations toward Him.  As I was pondering the account of the disciples in the storm and Jesus in the back of the boat asleep, I drew a conclusion as to Jesus' expectations of His disciples--- us present day disciples included.

First, He expects us to believe His Word.  He told them that they were going to the other side of the lake.  He didn't tell them they were going to drown.

Second, He expects us to take Him at His Word.  Again, He told them they were going to make it to the other side.

Thirdly, He expects us to act upon His Word.  When the storm came up, they tried to control the situation in the natural-- they bailed water.  They tried to handle the effects of the storm, instead of dealing directly with the storm like Jesus did.  They had authority to speak His Word to the storm and command it to stop just like Jesus did, because they had His Word on the situation-- we are going to the other side. 

Lastly, He expects us to have faith.  Faith in His Word.  Faith in what He says.  Without faith we can't please Him.  We live by faith.  Faith carries us to the other side.  Faith makes a way through the storm.  Faith speaks peace to situations.  Faith isn't moved by sight.  Faith hopes, trust and believes what He says-- we are going to the other side.

Are we meeting, or living up to, His expectations for us?  Probably not.  At least not all the time.  I know I don't.  But we should desire to.  We should strive to.  And if we are having trouble, we should do like Jarius did at the end of this same chapter-- pray.  "Lord, I believe, help Thou my unbelief."

Have a great day.  Are you living up to the Lord's expectations?