Waiting for Jesus, part 2: waiting and expecting

And as Jesus returned, the people welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him. (Luke 8:40 NASB)

The people had been waiting for Jesus. That sounds a little like a bored crowd just milling about. The original language makes it sound a little different, though. The word translated as "waiting" is prosdokaō and it can also be translated as "expecting".  The crowd was not just milling aimlessly about. They were waiting with expectation because they knew without doubt that, when Jesus arrived, He would do something. 

They were not waiting for nothing. They were waiting for the Son of God who always "did something".  The crowd knew that He had the words of life that could help them face the trials of life, but they also knew that He had the power to intervene in those trials. Jesus could make a difference, and that was what they were expecting as they waited. 

Is that the way we wait?  Do we take the trials of life to our Lord with the expectation that He will move? Do we pray with the firm assurance that our Lord will move in our situation or just hope that "maybe he might"?  There is a vast difference, and the difference is a question of faith. Do we believe that Jesus will "do something" or not?  The answer to that question is critical and reveals much about our relationship with God. 

If we believe what we say we do, then we must also believe that God can intervene in miraculous ways. We must also believe that He who knows the number of hairs on our head cares about more than our hair. He cares about us, and about what affects us. Dear ones, take the burdens, the fears, the trials of life to Jesus, and leave them there with prosdokaō, trusting that He can help and He will help. 

Wait for Jesus, and do it with great anticipation!

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Link to last night's post is here: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/08/lessons-from-battlefield-young-hezekiah.html

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Please continue to pray about the atrocities being committed around the world by radical jihadists and for those who face persecution and death on a daily basis. Pray for those who will be forced to recant their faith or die today. Pray, too, that, when that same persecution comes to our country, (and it will) we will be as brave and faithful as our brothers and sisters around the world.