What Do You Expect From God?

5.22.22 Acts 14:8–22 (EHV)

8 In Lystra there was a man who was sitting down because he had no strength in his feet. He had never walked because he was lame from birth. 9 When he was listening to Paul as he was speaking, Paul looked at him closely and saw that he had faith to be healed. 10 Paul said in a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet!” And the man jumped up and began to walk. 11 When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form.” 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the main speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and garlands to the city gates, because he wanted to offer sacrifices along with the crowds. 14 But when the apostles Paul and Barnabas heard about this, they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, shouting, 15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We too are men with the same nature as you. We are preaching the good news to you so that you turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. 16 In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own ways. 17 Yet he did not leave himself without testimony of the good he does. He gives you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons. He fills you with food and fills your hearts with gladness.” 18 Even though they said these things, they had a hard time stopping the crowds from sacrificing to them. 19 Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and persuaded the crowds to stone Paul. When they thought he was dead, they dragged him out of the city. 20 But after the disciples had gathered around him, he stood up and went into the city. The next day, he left with Barnabas for Derbe. 21 After they preached the good news in that city and had gathered many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. They told them, “We must go through many troubles on our way to the kingdom of God.”

When we were using our fireplace, I looked on Amazon and found a hand cranking device that would help get the fire going. It was cheap, and I thought it would work well. Unfortunately, when I got it in the mail I found out that it was only about three inches. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting.

The same can ring true when it comes to your relationship with God. What do you expect from Him?

What Do You Expect From God?

You should expect greatness! Look at what Paul was able to do with God working through him. He was able to heal a man who was lame from BIRTH. Notice how he JUMPED up right away! What power! God is all-powerful and He can do all-powerful things! So if you take this to its natural conclusion, you might assume that you can expect anything and everything from God, since nothing is impossible for Him. “Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you.”

Could it be possible to expect too MUCH from God? Actually, yes, it could, when you expect things that God never promised. Look back to the story of Paul. You would expect a great miracle to work to Paul’s advantage, where the whole town would repent and believe in Jesus. But his miracle didn’t convert anyone. They mistook Paul for Hermes and Barnabas for Zeus, both Greek gods. (Hermes was supposed to have winged sandals and move quickly between the mortal and divine worlds. It goes to show how seriously they actually took their religion. They weren’t just stories about gods. They had actual temples and made sacrifices to these gods in Lystra.) So when Paul performed the miracle, they thought he was one of THEIR gods. Chaos ensued. Nobody was converted at all. Paul ended up getting stoned nearly to death. That certainly wasn’t what Paul was expecting.

This isn’t the only time. When God swallowed Korah and his followers alive, nobody repented. They only doubled down and tried to kill Moses! When Jesus raised Lazarus they only plotted to kill Jesus and Lazarus. Even when Jesus was raised from the dead, the soldiers took bribe money and the teachers of the law bribed them to lie. So here, the crowd turned on Paul and Barnabas in a dime. Miracles were often used to get the people’s ATTENTION, to show them the divine AUTHORITY that the apostles had, so they could tell the people to REPENT and cling to Jesus for salvation. That’s how God promised He would powerful work salvation in people THEN and NOW.