Expect Great Things

There is a popular department store that has the slogan, “Expect Great Things.” It is interesting. I wonder how many customers enter the double-doors of this store expecting great things. What kind of “great things” can a department store really offer?

The slogan “Expect Great Things” was originally attributed to the English missionary William Carey. In Northampton, England, on May 30, 1792, this great missionary to India delivered a powerful sermon urging God’s people to “expect great things; attempt great things.”

Carey was a man who was passionate for the glory of God. Not only that, but he was realistic about who God is and what God is capable of. He was a man who expected great things from God, attempted great things for God, and accomplished great things through God.

The Bible powerfully portrays a God who consistently goes above and beyond the expectations of His people. When the people of Israel simply wanted out of Egypt, God sent ten different plagues –saying to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the Lord” (Exodus 10:1-2, NIV).

Later, when the people of Israel were looking for someone, anyone to stand against a giant of a man named Goliath, God sent a ruddy boy named David to strike down the oversized obstacle with a single stone. And if that was not enough, God went above and beyond their expectations by anointing this boy to be a great King over God’s people.

And long after the reign of King David, when God’s people were desperately longing for the Messiah to come and restore the kingdom to its former glory, God went as far above their expectations as anyone could ever imagine by sending His Son into the world to suffer and die for our sins, ushering in the Kingdom of God, and offering all people the gift of eternal life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him” (John 3:16-17, NIV).

And now James tells us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind” (James 1:5-6, NIV).

Or as Jesus said it, "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:11-13, NIV)

God invites us to expect great things from Him. He is our loving Father in heaven. Attempt great things for God, as Moses in Egypt, David in Israel, and William Carey in India have exemplified for us.

I don’t know about the double-doors of a department store, but when you open the doors of a church –expect great things!

Beloved, when you open the door of your heart to God –expect great things…