Are You Expecting Something Great? By Donna Renay Patrick
Our guest blogger today is Donna Renay Patrick. Donna serves as the Minister of Music at the Hill Chapel C.M.E. Church in Plano, Texas. She has a passion for praise and worship ministry, and teaches the body of Christ in the true meanings of praise and worship from a Biblical perspective via conferences, workshops, and video training and development.
She is a contributing writer for www.experiencingworship.com. Her first book, At All Times, a devotional, won the Henri Award during the 2013 Christian Literary Awards. Her second book is entitled It’s In Your Praise! She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Bishop College, and a Master of Arts in Christian Education from Dallas Baptist University.
For You are great and perform wonders; You alone are God. Teach me Your way, Lord, and I will live by Your truth. Give me an undivided mind to fear Your name. I will praise You with all my heart, Lord my God, and will honor Your name forever. For Your faithful love for me is great, and You deliver my life from the depths of Sheol. Psalm 86:10-13 (Holman CSB)
Sometimes in life, perhaps all the time, perspective is everything. One of the reasons people sit in church every Sunday but miss the blessing of worship is because they don’t have the proper perspective on God. When we go through difficult situations, which is just a part of life, we often see the glass half-empty, rather than half-full; it’s all about perspective. You can see and speak victory or defeat. You can see yourself free or bound; not physically bound necessarily, but emotionally, mentally, or even financially. Bondage in the human or spirit realm can take many forms. But we eventually have to ask ourselves, “What am I expecting?”
Today’s text reminds us that we serve a great God, who does great things. So if God is great, and we are His children, then what is His by right is ours by adoption. In other words, if we belong to the family of God – and His Word declares this to be so, then blessings fall to us if we will only choose to follow Him. God wants to do great things in our lives, but we must determine what it is we are expecting. Are we expecting positive change? Or do we have no concept whatsoever that anything could be different for us?
Be encouraged to begin again knowing we serve a great God who made everything and desires to do great things for us. Accept the fact that God is sovereign. He will always be God, regardless of our circumstances. Make up your mind today that expecting something great is your new normal.