Daily Encouragement: Day 344

Adapted from Handbook to Spiritual Growth

EXPECTATIONS & THE SPIRIT

Our expectations regarding the nature and extent of God’s activity today are shaped by our assumptions and worldview. Some grow up conditioned to expect the miraculous, while others may be conditioned in the opposite way, potentially making them impervious to the surprising work of the Spirit. Each has its pitfalls, so the body of Christ needs the kind of cross-pollination that avoids the faults of the other side while welcoming its strengths.

If we do not desire, pray, and expect God to stretch out His hand to do extraordinary things (see Acts 4:29–31), it is unlikely that we will see the manifestations of God’s power. But these extraordinary things can occur in “ordinary” ways, and we would do well not to draw too sharp a distinction between the “natural” and the “supernatural,” lest we remove the latter from daily life and fail to see the hand of God in all ministry and spiritual gifts, whether healing or teaching.