BEYOND YOUR EXPECTATION

Dearly Beloved, BEYOND YOUR EXPECTATION "Israel said to Joseph, 'I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too'" (Genesis 48:11 NIV). Have you ever lost something that you thought you can never regain but at the end you found it and even had more than that thing? Have you ever lost hope on a situation and the Lord made things to work out for you even more than what you expected before? Jacob (later known as Israel) experienced something like that in a greater way. Having sold Joseph into slavery, the children of Jacob lied to him that a ferocious animal had devoured Joseph (see Genesis 37:27-33). Jacob believed them and mourned for his beloved son for many days. To him, Joseph had died. Nevertheless God had preserved Joseph and made him a ruler in a foreign land. Jacob later had the opportunity of not only seeing the "dead" Joseph, but also the children of Joseph. You could imagine the extent of the joy of Jacob to see beyond his expectation about Joseph that he once thought was dead. Hannah was barren, and because of this, "her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her" (1 Samuel 1:6 NIV). She went to God and asked for just a son (verse 11), but God did beyond her expectation – "she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters" (1 Samuel 2:21 NIV). That was after God gave her a son that later became a prominent figure in the history of the nation of Israel. When God told Solomon to ask for anything he would want Him to do for him, Solomon asked for "a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong" (1 Kings 3:9 NIV). However, God did beyond his expectation in giving him more than what he asked for (1 Kings 3:11-13). What is the seeming dead situation that you are passing through presently? Have you lost hope in such situation? What have you been asking from God that He has not done? God can make you experience something beyond your expectation in that situation! He will definitely do so in His appointed time. Just trust in Him and wait for Him. Paul declared, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen" (Ephesians 3:20-21 NIV). In His service, Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor). Prayer Point: Pray that God will bless you more than your expectation in the situation you are passing through.