Are you excited for today?
The young woman that said that to me is on her first mission trip. It was a travel day, so I knew it would be just a day of driving through the country to get to our destination for the week. Now mind you, the drive is absolutely beautiful, however I didn’t share the excitement that she had being in a new place with a fairly new faith.
I knew the country was beautiful, but I have more of a peace being here. A peace knowing there is beauty in the brokenness, and a rest in the expectancy that God will take what we offer Him and do amazing things for His glory.
But she was beholding. Standing in awe and being amazed. Behold was my word for this year, and honestly lately I have felt stagnant in the word that feels more like of a posture than an attitude.
She was beholding, and she didn’t even really know it. And as she was beholding, God 
was providing her more than she was asking for or expecting. On the drive she wanted to see monkeys. Not gonna lie, so did I (they are ridiculously cute), but she prayed for it. And sure, enough as we were driving through the rainforest, my husband caught sight of one. But there wasn’t just one, there ended up being at least 8. You would think they would have been scared of our big passenger vehicle, but they stayed around as we enjoyed watching them.
This seems so little, in the midst of what we were all beginning to see (most for the first time), but this really all comes down to this little thing called faith. And it is sometimes a tiny bit of faith from a child asking for something from a parent that they hope for, with an expectancy that it will be provided.
Faith like a child. The times when we were so young that we believed that our God was a good Father, and would pray with faith that we believed would move mountains. In a reckless love, and His love really is reckless because it defies what we would view as possible. When we were young and when we first believed.
Yet there is an enemy that doesn’t want us to pray with expectancy, or expect with certainty that God will come through with His promise. He wants us to believe that His word isn’t truth, and that His truth will return void. He wants us to question God’s goodness, and if He will truly come through with His solid promise.
The enemy wants us to fear, he wants us to be insecure, and he wants us be so full of doubt that we run from the God who desires us to run directly to Him, so He can show us that He truly is God.
When we were praying during morning devotions today I was reminded that Jesus didn’t come to just save us from eternal death. Yes, it is true, but He continually saves us from so much more by showing us His abundant and reckless love. Love isn’t a one-time deal. Grace isn’t a one-time deal. He came to give us abundant life. He came to make ALL things new, and this can happen every day! He came to free us from our doubts, and love us recklessly without abandon or limits.
He is not limited by the things that we think limit us.
Because of this we can behold. We can stand in a posture of expectancy because we 
know who Jesus is. We can not just believe, but know that His word is true. We can expect His word to not be void, but filled with love, peace, grace, and faithfulness. The faithfulness that He can provide more than we could ever ask or imagine, and He will.
These truths are not just for this young woman who was beholding. These are truths that are for you and me, and those who know Jesus and desire to follow Him. These truths are there to show us that He doesn’t have to provide the seemingly tiny requests that we raise up, but He does because He wants us to know that He is for us, and He will not forsake us. He wants our faith to be strengthened, so His name can be glorified.
His mercies are new every morning. And that means everyday He has something new for us to behold. Whether it be in Rwanda, or at home.
Go back to the child-like faith. Behold. Dream. Expect.
Watch Him move.
