During this time that my husband is working out of town, I came to realise how much I relied on him to help get things done. So often we don’t appreciate those in our lives until they are no longer there to support us.

These past few weeks, I’ve been on a journey of discovering who I am really relying on. Usually when it comes to the kid’s activities, my husband and I divide the driving to and from practices and games between the two of us. But the busier I got with piano lessons in the afternoon, the more my husband had to take care of the kid’s extracurricular activities.

Now that my husband is away, I had to make a lot of changes to my schedule and had to think on things differently. I had to go from preparing meals from scratch an hour before meal time, to prepping everything in the morning to sometimes even the day before. I drive a lot more also, so that means backing up the car into our tricky driveway (something my husband usually did) in order to be able to be on our way quickly.

Can you relate to this? Did you have to make changes at some point because your spouse or someone you relied on to assist with daily activities, had to go away?

To rely on someone means to depend on them with full trust or confidence. (Source: Oxford languages)

Psalm 33:18 KJV "Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;"

The Greek word for “hope” is elpis. It is understood to mean “anticipation” or “confident expectation”.

In which area of your life do you rely on people instead of God? Or, you trust the Lord, but have lost the anticipation or excitement of expecting him to do the miraculous in your life?

In difficult times, it is easy to forget that our help comes from the Lord. But in the verse above, we are reassured that the Lord is with us, looking out for us if we place him above all else, especially our circumstances. If we keep on anticipating his goodness in every situation we face, and trust in him for the outcome, he will cause everything to work for our good.

David is a very good example of someone trusting the Lord completely for the outcome. He wasn’t flawless, but he had a reverent fear of the Lord and repented quickly when he was at fault. He also went through very difficult circumstances at times, but the Lord saved him every time. David was constantly praising God and anticipated that the Lord will save him from his foes.

Hebrews 1:11 KJV: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Praising the Lord for the things we are anticipating to happen in our lives even before it happens, helps us to remember that he is greater and stronger than anything we face. Jesus said that he will never leave us or forsake us, he is with us every step of the way.

Looking at your current circumstances, can you see where the Lord has been with you? Does this encourage you to expect even more goodness to come from him?

Looking back at these few weeks, the Lord has helped me to see that by relying on him I can truly do things I thought I couldn’t. That though I thought myself week in certain areas, he is strong and I can depend on him to pull me through.

I hope that this message would encourage you to seek the Lord wholeheartedly, because he has marvelous plans for your life, if you trust him and wait expectantly upon him.

2 Corinthians 1:20 KJV: "For all the promises of God in him are Yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us."

Blessings

Catherina