God is a law-giving, law-abiding God. A study of creation reveals He designed the universe to be governed by a host of physical laws such as gravity, centrifugal force and inertia. These laws are constant and unchanging and give us faith that what worked yesterday will work the same today.
God’s Spiritual Laws
More than scientific laws, however, God also wove spiritual laws into creation. These include: the law of His Word to sustain and uphold all things; the law of sin to destroy all things; the law of the harvest that you later reap from what you earlier sowed. And like the physical laws, though these spiritual laws are largely hidden from the eye, their effects are equally as evident.
As I explore in my book, Activating the Power of God’s Word, one of the spiritual laws crucial to experience God’s promises is what I call the law of expectation. Essentially, the law of expectation means that you eventually get what you expect. This can be either negative or positive. If you expect to have a bad day, you’ll have a bad day. If you expect joy in the midst of trials, you’ll experience joy.
Expectation in Action
The results of the law of expectation, of course, are dependent on your expectations being based on God’s Word. Wanting a mansion in Malibu and expecting God to make your wish His command, for example, is not included. But expecting that God will meet your needs is (Phil. 4:19). Expecting His strength in your weakness is (2 Cor. 12:9). And expecting something good out of something bad is too (Rom. 8:28).
A story of David offers one of my favorite illustrations of expectation in action. Psalm 27 was penned during a time of great personal trial. As armies encamped around him and accusers spoke lies about him, David could have muttered, “Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong!” But he didn’t. David knew God’s promise to go before and fight for His people. And because He knew God’s character as a promise keeper, he expected God to make good on this promise. David’s declaration in verse 13 captures his expectation: “I believe I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”
What David meant by this is that he sincerely believed that God would deliver him—not at a future time or in a future place, but right here and right now. Accordingly, David got just what he expected—deliverance from his enemies and God’s goodness in the midst of trouble.
Change Your Expectations, Change Your Life
What do you expect today? Is it doom and gloom based on what’s around you? Or is it the goodness of God despite what’s around you? How you act, what you say and how you pray set your expectations, which cast the deciding vote on what you experience—misery or peace.
Kyle Winkler (kylewinkler.org) is the creator of the popular Shut Up, Devil! mobile app. His latest book is Activating the Power of God’s Word: 16 Strategic Declarations to Transform Your Life. Kyle holds a master of divinity in biblical studies from Regent University. Connect with him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
