Are You Expecting?

A few weeks ago, I was blessed to attend a baby shower for my cousin’s daughter, Allison, and her husband. But this was an extra-special celebration because twins are on the way—one of each—a boy and a girl. How perfect will that be? When they arrive, they will already have a big brother and lots of doting relatives. What blessed children!

The time of pregnancy involves all sorts of changes. In addition to the physical ones, emotions are probably at the top of the list. Moms-to-be may experience highs and lows as their hormones do loop-the-loops—everything from unexplained tears to hyena laughter. Or how about those crazy food cravings? And for no reason—just because. Another life is growing inside, and every day is full of glorious change and wonder. The excitement of furnishing a nursery, buying tiny clothes, and knitting afghans or booties brings joy as their bellies swell with the promise of life.

Nowadays, most parents opt for viewing their unborn babies through the window of sonograms. It’s miraculous how we can watch them develop into different stages—measuring weight, identifying the sex, and scrutinizing tiny facial features. How do they grow into a whole person in just nine months? It’s nothing short of a miracle.

This miracle wasn’t lost on King David. In his prayer to God, he worships:

I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well ~ Psalms 139:14, NASB.

That isn’t all. After we’re born, God doesn’t put down His knitting needles. He has a plan and continues to work, weaving a blanket big enough to cover all the days of our lives. He has created a pattern for each of us, and it’s as unique as a snowflake. Inside the pattern are quilting squares of our life’s events—everything from common ones to special highlights such as graduations, career choices, and choosing the right mate to share our lives.

But impatience may bump into those plans, whispering that we can design our lives better than God. So, we take control and create our own pattern. Have you ever done that? I confess I have regrets over past mistakes.

Regrets can be good teachers, though, so that we come to understand the importance of choosing wisely at the next opportunity. As we walk down our roads of life, we will eventually encounter new forks along our paths that force us to choose again.

Which way should we go?

Our objective is to choose God’s perfect will, to follow His pattern.

But how do we know for sure what that is?

‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope’ ~ Jeremiah 29:11, NASB.

…I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants ~ Deuteronomy 30:19, NASB.

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him ~ James 1:5, NASB.

The Lord assures us we can trust His plans because they are good plans. He not only tells us to choose life, but helps us by giving us wisdom to do so. To receive, we must ask in faith, without any doubting, and He will show us His way.

We could also compare seeking the perfect will of God to a spiritual pregnancy. We must be patient and wait, just like a mother must wait those long nine months until her baby is ready to come into the world. We may think the process is taking forever and want to hurry it up. But, contractions will begin at just the right time–God’s time. When we look into the face of His perfect gift, we understand. What a delight! It will always be worth the wait.

Just as Allison prepares and patiently waits for the birth of her twins, so let us prepare and wait for our expectations to come to life. God has overwhelming love for all His children, and He delights in lavishing us with His treasured gifts that never disappoint.

What are you expecting that God is knitting inside your life? Are you willing to wait patiently until He brings it to pass?