“I would have despaired had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for and confidently expect the LORD; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for and confidently expect the LORD.” (Psalm 27:13-14 AMP)
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” (Proverbs 13:12 NIV)
“I am standing in absolute stillness, silent before the one I love, waiting as long
as it takes for him to rescue me. Only God is my Savior, and he will not fail me. For he alone is my safe place. His wraparound presence always protects me as my champion defender. There’s no risk of failure with God! So why would I let worry paralyze me, even when troubles multiply around me? God’s glory is all around me! His wraparound presence is all I need, for the Lord is my Savior, my hero, and my life-giving strength. Trust only in God every moment! Tell him all your troubles and pour out your heart-longings to him. Believe me when I tell you—he will help you!” (Psalm 62:5-8 TPT)
A few years ago, in the middle of the night, the Spirit within my spirit asked me…
…”What is your life expectancy Eric?”
My first reaction was to ask a question in return…
…”Are you asking me how long I expect to live, or, what do I expect out of life?”
In return, I sensed the answer given to be…
…”Both.”
I have been seriously pondering this question for seven years. I have been daily seeking the “Mind of Christ” (my Heavenly Father’s desire and design) as it pertains to both the quality (life expectancy) and quantity (lifespan) of life (here and now). I am on a “treasure hunt,” or perhaps a better description would be a “quest,” that is completely changing the trajectory of my life.
At the center of my “Late Life Assignment” to lead in the “Rise of the New Caleb Generation” is the challenge to take a fresh look at the “normal” process of aging and death. The Spirit has taken me on an adventure as I have observed the lives of Caleb, Moses, Abraham, Enoch, and Jesus (in that order) in light of their life and teachings on the process and purpose of “Longevity.” With each of them the Spirit has challenged my current perception on aging and death, and has completely changed my “Life Expectancy.”
My current discoveries have fully convinced me that my “level of expectation” has everything to do with my “current life experience.” I have also learned that my “perception of experience” will greatly impact my “level of expectation” unless I replace it with a “more sure word.”
“For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Peter 1:16-21 KJV)
The disciples continually experienced supernatural phenomena (miracles, signs, and wonders) while traveling with Jesus. They even heard the audible Word (voice) of God. And yet, Peter wrote that we have a “more sure word” than these experiences. God has given us a “standard for discernment” (a “more sure word”) by which we can interpret all experience and on which we can base all expectancy. Without this “standard of discernment” I would be trapped in a cycle of uncertainty as each day’s experience changes. I would be left to build my expectations based on my “limited sensory perception” (what I see, hear, smell, touch – experience personally or perceive in the experience of others).
Along with the original question, I am repeatedly hearing a follow up question with growing intensity…
…”Eric, is your life expectancy based on your experience (personal and perceived), or is your life experience flowing from your expectancy?”
I have become fully convinced that my “expectation” has everything to do with what I “experience.” There is a cycle in life in which “expectation” and “experience” create a “snowball effect.” That effect can be positive or negative. It can bring life and blessing or death and cursing. It can lead me closer to my Father’s desire and design (will) for my life or draw me farther away from it. It can reveal the Mind of Christ as I perceive it or reverse it in my understanding.
The most common path to “Grace Expectations” begins with hope, Hope tends to begin as a wish for something better in the future. If this wish is nurtured it will grow into a deep desire for whatever is hoped for. Once this desire matures by way of exposure to the Word of God it becomes a fervent expectation of the manifestation of God’s goodness in the area of hope. I have found that most times that which I am beginning to hope for runs opposite of what I am currently experiencing. It typically runs in the opposite direction of what has been experienced by the majority of others past and present. This leads to the conclusion that it will stay the same in the future. Hope appears foolish to those who do not share in that hope.It takes faith to hold on to hope.
Faith is the catalyst which ignites the manifestation of that which is hoped for. It is the fervent expectation of the manifestation of hope in my life today. Faith is SUBSTANCE. Faith is EVIDENCE. Faith is NOW! Hope without faith is nothing more than wishful thinking about the possibilities somewhere out in the future. While faith strengthens hope, and draws those wishes into the present, on its own faith falls short of bringing that which is hoped for into full manifestation. Until faith matures to the point of becoming fervent expectation very little is accomplished. That is where love comes in.
Love is the very essence of God. Love casts out all fear. Love directs hope and perfects faith. Love removes all doubts and creates a picture on the inside that is bigger and clearer than anything seen on the outside. Love is blind to anything less than the manifestation of my Creator’s desire and design in my life. Love adds all of the needed ingredients to faith and hope to bring God’s best into complete fruition.
Faith, hope, and love combined produce an inner reality that is far more real than the reality that is all around me. What I possess on the inside becomes so much more powerful than what I experience on the outside that I am no longer driven by “experience” or “sensory perception.” I am driven by the “more sure word” of scripture and led by the “Greater One” that is within me.
Moving forward, as I seek to answer the questions the Spirit is asking, I want to dive deeply into what we have begun in……Eric’s Life Lesson # 419: Grace Expectations – Life Expectancy Kingdom Style: Part 1