Reason To Pause

Dad has been preaching on God moving in unexpected ways using the Christmas story during Advent. It's been giving me reason to pause. I'm thinking about my own expectations of God and looking closely at the ways I put God into a box as to how He does things in my world. I would love to say I don't, that I'm just always seeking God and willing to admit that He could show up in any way.  I don't think that's the case though.  I think I have conveniently figured out my own little system to decide when God will move and what it will look like.  That's not working so well for me right now.  God is not doing what I'm expecting and especially not when I'm expecting. Now what? It's time to consider that God moves how and when He deems best. I need to live in expectancy, not expectation. Those are two very different things. Expectancy is knowing that God will move, and giving Him the control.  Expectation is having an end in mind, whether that's the action or the timing. It's tricky for me, a strategic person, to live with expectancy. I'm praying for God to transform my heart and mind to live in expectancy rather than expectation.