Waiting with Expectant Hope
Valerie Ferrara
The Lord is my light and my salvation — so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble? ... Hear me as I pray, O Lord. Be merciful and answer me! My heart has heard you say, "Come and talk with me." And my heart responds, "Lord, I am coming."... Yet I am confident I will see the Lord's goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. –Psalm 27:1, 7-8, 13-14
Mr. Guerra began by asking some rhetorical questions:
Do you want to see God face to face? We will all have to face God and give an account of our lives when we die, but what about now, in this life?
Do you want to find out who you are? What you were made for? Your very purpose?
Do you want to manage your stress better and have more peace in your life? Would you like to get more strength for the tests and trials of life?
To answer, Mr. Guerra pointed to the lives of the Old Testament patriarch, Jacob, and the Apostle Peter. Jacob was foundational in the establishment of the nation of Israel; Peter was foundational in the establishment of the church.
Briefly reviewing the details of Jacob's early life, Mr. Guerra said even though chosen by God, Jacob did not know who he was. He wanted to be his brother, Esau. A conniver and deceiver, Jacob stole Esau's birthright and his blessing. Then, fleeing from Esau, Jacob had the well-known "Jacob's ladder" dream, in which God promised him blessings far beyond what he could imagine. When Jacob awoke, he said, "Surely the Lord is in this place and I was not aware of it."
"God wants to bless us more than we can imagine," Mr. Guerra told the audience. "Yet we ignore Him so often. Why would you settle for less [than God wants to give you] in your one and only life?"
After several years, in which he worked for Laban in order to marry Rachel, Jacob, still a deceiver and also deceived by Laban, again flees. He is forced to go back the way he came. "When we run from God, it is quite typical to have to return the way we came," Mr. Guerra explained. After years of waiting and running, through his experiences Jacob had finally learned to wait on God.
In order to explain better the relationship between waiting on God and stress, Mr. Guerra gave a little demonstration using rope. He took one strand of rope, inviting all to imagine the rope is our life. He then stretched it taut, saying, "This is what happens when we are stressed." He took the same rope and intertwined it with two other strands. The rope would not stretch taut. "You were never meant to handle stress alone," he encouraged. "If we will wait on God, hoping with expectation, we will be much better at dealing with the stress in our lives."
Like Jacob, the Apostle Peter did not know who he was. He ran from God, totally stressed by his circumstances. Peter boldly told Jesus he would die for Him, but Peter couldn't even stay awake to pray with Jesus for an hour. Peter wanted to kill for Jesus, impulsively cutting off the ear of a soldier, but when simply asked if he had been with Jesus, Peter denied so three times, finally with curses. After the resurrection, Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love Me?" Mr. Guerra said he is convinced Jesus was really asking, "Will you just be with Me? Will you wait with Me? Will you not run from Me, but instead remain with Me? Will you become who I made you to be?"
"Jesus is asking us the same question," Mr. Guerra said. " 'Do you love Me?' "
"If you will wait, hoping expectantly, loving Jesus back, you will see him face to face. You will discover who you are and who you were meant to be. You will learn to deal with the inevitable stresses in your life. 'For God, who said, "Let there be light in the darkness," has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6)'." Mr. Guerra said in closing. "May you know and receive the blessing and love of God."
