Faithful with Expectancy
By Alan Sim
The events of 2020 were unprecedented. It was the long-awaited turn of the decade that has made us hopeful of new things to come for ourselves. Thus, we made plans, not fully comprehending there would be a disruption of a global scale. As believers, God is calling us to have the right perspective of 2020, despite its challenges, and to also be expectant of Him as we step further into the second year of the pandemic.
2020 was a definitive year where we got to define (or redefine) our relationship with the Lord, and even our goals in partnership with Him. It is important to ask these questions as we look back to ponder about 2020:
What did we discover of ourselves?
How was Christ formed in us in the past year?
What were some of the non-negotiables that we have established in our lives?
Is there a deeper stirring; a longing for more of Him now?
These are common questions that we would ask every year, but the events of 2020 have made these more real to us in every way. We entered into the first year of the pandemic whether we liked it or not, and none of us can claim that our plans weren’t disrupted. We didn’t choose the circumstances, but we lived through every day and every moment of it, as though we were thrown to the deep end of the pool suddenly.
The surge of COVID-19 cases in Malaysia was not quelled by the end of 2020, therefore pushing us into the second year of the pandemic, a second wave, a second MCO. How, then, do we live in expectancy, when everything is disrupted? Think about the emotions we had at the end of 2019 when we counted down to 2020, and compare that to how we counted down to 2021 at the end of last year. The contrast of feelings and thoughts are obvious. Perhaps, we were too jaded to be excited for this new year, and worse, we probably sensed the fear of being hopeful for the best in 2021. Some of us may even wonder if, amid uncertainties and disruptions, there is still room for hope.
As I sought the Lord for a word concerning 2021, I sensed Him showing me that it is a year of firstfruits.
For context, we shall look at what the Old Testament says about it:
One of the main ways for the Jewish people to worship God in the past was by giving an offering of firstfruits, or a grain offering. As the harvest begins to ripen, they would glean the first ripening of the heads of grain, while the major part of the harvest is yet to mature. It is a way to show an act of faith as they respond to the Lord’s invitation to offer the firstfruits of the harvest.
With that, I probed a little further with a question before the Lord. I asked, “Why the year of firstfruits?” Thus, He laid upon my heart these three words: faithful with expectancy.
Before a harvest can be reaped, there is a phase of sowing and planting. A supposed disrupted year of 2020 can be more fruitful than what we can imagine. The Lord, in His love, is asking us to enter into 2021 with much expectancy of seeing a greater revelation to who He says He is, and what He says He will do. Perhaps, it’s also imperative to count our heavenly gains in the face of our earthly losses in 2020 and understand that our gains are eternal, while our losses are temporal.
In line with the imagery of farming, this phrase is equally important: the reward of pruning is fruitfulness.
Pruning is something that we have experienced in varying degrees in 2020. We need to be acquainted with this truth that’s found in John 15, that the reward of God’s pruning is fruitfulness. The year of pruning positions us to receive, as we are led further into 2021. The result of our faithfulness in 2020 engenders an expectancy as we walk deeper into the second year of the pandemic.
Despite the uncertainties, we can be expectant of greater things that the Lord desires to show us in 2021. Ephesians 3:16-23 is a common prayer at PenHOP:
“that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
The Lord’s invitation to us is to trust and be expectant of greater things as we walk further into 2021. Would we dare ask Him for the things He is inviting us to trust Him for? Would we even ask Him for the desires of our hearts, even those that seem too insignificant to approach Him with? Perhaps there isn’t a will in us to do so, but maybe this is a season where God is reminding us of who He is in our lives, that whatever 2020 represented for us, He was there in the middle of it.
The words of Revelation 21:5 says that He is making all things new. And, to John, He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Will we say “yes” to the invitation to believe in Him this year – He who is trustworthy and true, who will come through with His words to make all things new? Where despair lies, He meets us with His steadfast love that never ceases, and mercies that are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).
This is our God – and if we pause and allow Him to speak into our lives, we will experience His steadfast love and His mercies, and He will overwhelm us with the greatness of His faithfulness over us.
May we not shrink back in fear of disappointment, but may we victoriously and expectantly celebrate 2021 in the face of the unknown and the uncertainties.