Day Four & Five Of 7th Annual End Of Summer Fast & Detox: Expect Things To Happen & Make Room

Thursday, we talked about how faithful God is; he’s always there no matter what. If he has made a way for you before, you can expect him to make a way for you again. So many people believe, expectation is a bad thing, but that’s the furthest thing from the truth. My pastor once said, “If you have great expectations, don’t expect your life to remain the same.” In Isaiah 54:1-4 the people of Zion had been in exile and captivity for 70 years. The prophet Isaiah came to them and gave them encouragement and hope. He told them that they had to have great expectation against the backdrop of the exile experience. He said that God is going to execute their expectations. If you expect God to do something great you must: Sing in bold praise, See a brighter future, Stretch beyond the familiarity, Have diligence, discipline and drive, Strengthen your foundation in christ, and Slay your fears. We have already discussed singing in bold praises, and strengthening our foundation in Christ. Today, we are discussing seeing a brighter future, and stretching beyond the familiarity. It’s not enough to expect something, you must turn that expectation into action. You can only turn that expectation to action if you truly see it. Let me explain.

Most of you know, I moved with my mom in Michigan after I graduated college, a few years ago. The plan was to be home for a year, then Covid happened. Whenever people would ask me when I was moving, I would say whenever God wanted me to. I would always talk about moving, but never take action steps. I didn’t apply for jobs, look at places to live, or even calculate the cost. Before I realized, three years had went by, and it wasn’t until my therapist asked me the most simplest question. She asked if I was waiting on God, or if he was waiting on me? Truth is, I didn’t really see myself moving, I said it because it sounded good, but I didn’t believe God fully. Expecting is one thing, but you have to act as if it is coming. 

Think about it, Noah had the expectation and faith to build the ark, before it was raining. It’s very hard to build an ark in the rain. Noah had an encounter with God, which lead him to move in faith. He saw what was coming, without actually seeing it. Noah didn’t have all the answers, he was simply being obedient to what God said. Having expectation, without the obedience to do the first step, will result in you staying stagnant and becoming complacent. In 1 Samuel 15:22, Samuel tells Saul to obey is better than to sacrifice. You don’t have to have the entire plan. You don’t have to know how, why, when, and where. Start small, and focus on what God told you to do. So many times, we fail to take the first step, because we can’t see the finish line. That is where God comes in. You must take one step he’ll meet you halfway, but he wants to see you actually taking action. You can’t have any of this, without first, hearing the voice of God. That means you have to be connected to him, to order your steps, and to be in alignment. You can’t have expectations, if you’re being disobedient to God. I’m not saying, God won’t give you a grace and mercy when you’re being disobedient, this is simply for expectations. It’s one big recipe for transformation. You must spend time with God, to know what he’s telling you to do. Once you know what he’s telling you to do, you must be obedient and step out on faith, with the expectations that God will make a way. It’s very hard to set things in motion, when you don’t know if what you’re doing is from God, or your own mind.

Roman’s 8:24-25 says, “But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” You have to be able to see in the spiritual what hasn’t happened in the natural. You have to see life beyond your current context. Behave as if it is. I behave how I behave, because I believe what I believe. If you can see it physically, that’s not it. You have to have radical expectation, that sparks you to walk different. Sarah Jakes Robert’s did a sermon called, Radical Expectations. (Click here to watch.) She said, “Radical expectations comes from radical transformations, which comes when God has an encounter with you. It’s supposed to change your expectations.” Anticipate and prepare now as if it’s going to happen. It is crucial that you don’t get caught in your fears during this time. This is a time to feed your faith with the scripture, and starve your fears. Today, I want you to write down three things. God has told you to do, it doesn’t have to be from Justice fasting time, it could’ve been things he’s told you to do over the years. For years, I would say that God didn’t tell me to do anything, but that’s a lie. God speaks and tells us what to do, through ideas, people, dreams, and scripture. It's up to us to have proper discernment, to discern the voice of God. You must have a vision that comes from God himself, or complacency will creep in. It comes when you have no vision. Take some time to think about the encounters you’ve had with people, and even some dreams that you’ve had. Has God given you an idea, that you’ve ignored? Do you feel called to a certain place? Sit with the ideas you’ve had, and ask God for discernment to identify if it’s what he’s calling you to do. Once you get that list of three things, I want you to do one thing on that list before the year ends. It’s time to activate your faith. God has something greater and better than your right now. Stephanie Ike preached a sermon titled, Activate Your Faith, click here to watch.

Part two of this is from Saturday, day five. It’s time to make a room for the things you want. When you’re being obedient and have great expectations, your faith needs to move you to make room. In the Bible, Isaiah tells the people of Zion to enlarge the place of their tents. With expectation, comes preparation. You have to stretch beyond the familiarity. It’s time to make room, before the blessing shows up. I watched a Steve Harvey speech before and he said, “For years I would tell my mom I’m going to get a new car, but I had my old broke down car, sitting on bricks in the garage. Every day I would tell her I’m getting a new car and she would tell me I don’t have room for a new car. One day, I had a friend tow the old car out the garage. A few weeks later, I was able to get my new car. My mom said to me, I knew you were going to get it because you made room for it. You can’t ask God for something and then not make room to receive it.” You can’t say you want a new car, but your current car is a mess. You can’t say you want a new relationship, but you’re still dibbling and dabbling with old flings. You can’t want a new job, when you’re barely applying yourself at your current job. today, I want you to de-clutter your space. Throw out things that no longer serve you and organize things that you’ll keep. Decluttering lowers anxiety and stress levels. A messy space equals a messy mind. Decluttering, frees us from unnecessary distractions. Keeping your physical and digital space clutter free and organized, ultimately give you more time to focus on what really matters. Less clutter equals more space. There is no need to hang onto anyone, or anything, that doesn’t bring you joy or inspiration. If it’s taking up unwanted space in your physical or digital place, it’s time to say goodbye. Clutter can distract you, weigh you down and in general it invites chaos into your life. This new season we are entering is going to need our entire focus. We can’t afford to be stressed over the clutter around us. 

Start with the physical, your house, car, office, etc. Once that’s cleaned up and organized, move on to the digital. We spend so much time on our phones, what are you giving your time to. Clean up your contact lists, erase old photos, delete people off your social media who don’t serve a good purpose, delete apps that drain your energy. Unfollow anyone who doesn’t motivate you or make you feel good. If you’re following someone, and their content is making you feel negatively about yourself, it’s ok to unfollow. Next, I want you to look at the people you talk to most. Are they speaking life into you, or are they just gossiping about the next person? Successful people understand that editing their circle is crucial. The people around you have more power than you think. Make sure you’re not giving your energy to people who don’t deserve it. People around you should bring out the best in you and if they aren’t, why are they in your life? Moving on to the places you hang out, if you are in spaces that don’t serve you, stop going. Maybe God is calling you relocate, start to take steps in that direction. What music are you listening to daily, is it making you feel worse or encouraging you? Maybe you can’t watch the shows you’ve been watching because it brings out the jealousy in you. Take some time to go thru every aspect of your life and clean up shop. I know doing all this may feel daunting, but once you’re done, you’ll feel refreshed. We are making room for the things we say we want. Right now you’re holding on to things, but God wants you to release them so he can give you better. Here’s the thing with trusting God, you must understand that he would never lead you wrong. I know you don’t see it all the time, but he has great plans for you. Get rid of the things that are things that are taking up space. Organization is good for your mind, it brings clarity. 

The beautiful thing about both of these activities, is that once you identify what God has told you to do, and being obedient, making room, for the blessing, won’t seem as bad. I hope I encouraged you to bring back your expectations with God. When I pray, I expect an encounter with him. When I go to church, I expect to be filled with his spirit. I praise him for who he is, but also for what I am expecting. For those of you who are not religious, decluttering your space is not only good for making long for blessings. Decluttering your space allows you to have the mental capacity to take on all that life throws at us. So many times, my mind is foggy, and ideas are blocked, because I have clutter in my physical space. being organized, and clutter free is a key to success. I am so sorry that these activities are coming later than normal, life has been lifing. I hope you are spending time with God, and silence during this time. We are very overstimulated people, sitting in stillness is more challenging than you think.

You’re almost at the finish line, finish strong. 

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