Dearly Beloved,

BEYOND YOUR EXPECTATION

"Israel said to Joseph, 'I never expected to see your face again, and
now God has allowed me to see your children too'" (Genesis 48:11,
NIV).

Have you ever lost something that you thought you can never regain but
at the end you found it and even had more than that thing? Have you
ever lost hope on a situation and the Lord made things to work out for
you even more than what you expected before? Jacob (later known as
Israel) experienced something like that in a greater way. Having sold
Joseph into slavery, the children of Jacob lied to him that a
ferocious animal had devoured Joseph (see Genesis 37:27-33). Jacob
believed them and mourned for his beloved son for many days. To him,
Joseph had died. Nevertheless God had preserved Joseph and made him a
ruler in a foreign land. Jacob later had the opportunity of not only
seeing the "dead" Joseph, but also the children of Joseph. You could
imagine the extent of the joy of Jacob to see beyond his expectation
about Joseph that he once thought was dead.

Hannah was barren, and because of this, "her rival kept provoking her
in order to irritate her" (1 Samuel 1:6, NIV). She went to God and
asked for just a son (verse 11), but God did beyond her expectation –
"she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters" (1
Samuel 2:21, NIV). That was after God gave her a son that later became
a prominent figure in the history of the nation of Israel.

When God told Solomon to ask for anything he would want Him to do for
him, Solomon asked for "a discerning heart to govern your people and
to distinguish between right and wrong" (1 Kings 3:9, NIV). However,
God did beyond his expectation in giving him more than what he asked
for (1 Kings 3:11-13).

What is the seeming dead situation that you are passing through
presently? Have you lost hope in such situation? What have you been
asking from God that He has not done? God can make you experience
something beyond your expectation in that situation! He will
definitely do so in His appointed time. Just trust in Him and wait for
Him. Paul declared, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more
than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work
within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen" (Ephesians
3:20-21, NIV).

In His service,

Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).


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_________________________
Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).
+234 805 515 9591
http://www.afolabayo.org/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spiritualdigest2003/

"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will
have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted
in my body, whether by life or by death. FOR TO ME, TO LIVE IS CHRIST
AND TO DIE IS GAIN" (Philippians 1:20-21, NIV).