Luke 18:27, English Standard Version

“But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

We recently received an invitation to visit a nursing home and help in a church service. Our main role was to lead the residents in worship, and we knew that the songs that we would sing would be the older hymns. We have done music in a number of nursing homes, and it has always been something that has been very special. Often times the ones who we serve there come alive when they hear the music that they remember. But what we experienced this particular Sunday at this specific nursing home was very special.

Soon after starting we recognized that the people we not just smiling to listening, they were singing. They were singing loudly. They began to clap their hands, they began to move their bodies in their seat, and one individual, who had not gotten up from his chair in some time, stood up and began to dance. It was clear that these individuals had not come because they wanted to be entertained or see a show, they came because they wanted to praise the Lord. As we continued to sing songs with them the presence and the joy of the Lord filled the room. It was truly a special moment that I will not soon forget.

This experience reminded me of a teaching that I heard from one of my spiritual fathers here on earth. That teaching was about the importance of expectation. When we come together to worship, or do the work of ministry, or hear a teaching, do we come with genuine expectation in our hearts that the Holy Spirit is going to manifest and work? When we as the Church have expectation for the Lord’s movement He knows, and He is ready to respond. If I were honest, when we first arrived at the nursing home, I was tired. We had experienced several days in a row of morning to evening ministry work and I felt weary. Though in my spirit I was more than willing to continue in the work and play guitar in order to glorify Christ, in my flesh I simply wanted to get in and do the work and get home. But the people who came weren’t coming to see me, they were expecting to have an encounter with Jesus and because of that, everyone in the room was refreshed.

Today, no matter what you may be facing or how tired you may feel I want you to remember to expect that God will show up. Expect that God will make a way where there is a no way. Expect that the Holy Spirit will fill you with a fresh strength and joy and hope. Believe that God can and will do exactly what He has said He will do, that He has a plan to prosper you and not to harm you, a plan to give you a hope a future.