[Waiting for Him] What do YOU expect?

This month I am doing a series on Advent and preparing ourselves for Christmas. You can find more info on the series here. Come and join us for a month of getting ready and waiting!
In diesem Monat gibt es eine Serie über Advent und wie wir uns auf Weihnachten vorbereiten können. Hier gibt es mehr Infos über die Serie. Komm und sei dabei bei den Vorbereitungen und beim Warten!

Imagine this: The Israelites have had enough. For years they had lived in exile because they had been unfaithful to their Lord. They had suffered under kings and rulers of neighboring countries, lost their homes and their local identities, had to worship gods that were not their own. 
Finally, after several decades they had been allowed to return home. 
Home to Israel. Home to a relationship with their God and his good commandments. 
The time of waiting was over. 
Punishment had been served, time had been done. 
Now it was enough. It was all over. 
Now it was someone else’s turn. 
Now the Lord would show up and payback all those that had touched his children. 
He, the Almighty, would finally take a stand for his people. 

Their expectations were very clear. 
But things turned out to be different. Very different.
This God was just so much more than their box of expectations. 

He’s not a raging warlord gathering up his army to destroy Israel’s enemies. 
His weapons are not called revenge or hatred. 
His plan to restore Israel does not involve guns or slaughter.
This king becomes human. Humble. Riding on a donkey. 
So different and yet so much more powerful than a marching army.

This God shakes up expectations. 
If you continue reading of what Jesus (the God became human) did while here on earth you see that he surprises time and time again. 
He doesn’t fulfill expectations. He expands and exceeds them. 

This God is still the same today.
I don’t know how your year looked like. Was it marked by stress and a lot of work? Did you face the greatest challenges ever? Did you meet God along the way or did he rather seem like a long lost friend? 
I don’t know what you think about this Advent season. Whether it’s just another four stressful weeks of baking and buying presents. Whether you have any kind of expectations.

What do YOU expect of Advent? 
Maybe it’s a good idea to mull over that question for a while, figuring out where you’re at and where you might have lost expectations. 
Write them down. Keep them in mind. Tell God about them.
Advent is a time of waiting, but also of weighing. 
Waiting reveals and refines our expectations. 
It makes us aware our perspective, our needs and wants, our fears. 
And it will hopefully stir our waiting hearts into the right direction, towards the One who is waiting with and for us. 

“God fulfills His promises in unexpected ways, but it always gives glory to Him.   Expect Him to fulfill them for you, but don’t form expectations on how He will do it.”                                                                                                            Chris Tiegreen

This text teaches two things that might help us as we enter into this season.
God WILL show up. He has seen Israel’s distress and he also sees every busy day you’re going through. He sees your heart and your lost longings. He will come; in fact, he IS coming. Our king is never far away.
Prepare to be surprised. God’s promise of coming stands true, but he might show up in ways you never expected. He might show himself in a way you’ve never known before. He might reveal a bit of his power in a seemingly powerless way. 

He is ready to meet us and exceed our expectations. Are you?

This post is also linked up with InspireMe Monday – click here for more inspirational stories! 

“Gott erfüllt seine Versprechen in unerwarteter Weise, aber es dient immer seiner Ehre. Erwarte, dass er Dinge für dich erfüllt, aber nagele ihn nicht fest, wie er es tun wird.”   Chris Tiegreen