Great Expectations!

(Prov 17:11 MSG) Criminals out looking for nothing but trouble won't have to wait long—they'll meet it coming and going!

Beginning with the last verse, and continuing on to verse 16, Solomon describes some form of evil or foolish action in each verse. In the last verse we learned of the fool who is so hardheaded and stiff-necked that he refuses to learn anything from anyone. You could not even beat (physically) sense into him. Here Solomon describes a lawbreaking deviant who is always on the lookout for trouble. Guess what? He won’t have to look very long. Since he is a troublemaker and who looks for trouble he will find it coming and going.

Back in chapter 11 Solomon said, “Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished” (11:21). In chapter 16 he said, “The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished” (16:5). In the New Testament Paul said, “Do not deceive yourselves; no one makes a fool of God. You will reap exactly what you plant” (Gal 6:7). What do these verses teach us? Well, they remind us that we will reap whatever we sow. Why? Because our God created a system of laws and principles – sowing and reaping, cause and effect, and the free will of humans – that governs the earth. So, not only WILL we be judged some day, but our actions ARE regularly judged and we are either enjoy or endure the consequences. So, if we don’t like the harvest we are reaping, then we must check the seed we are sowing.

At the end of the day, we are where we are, because of the decisions we make and the actions we conduct. Since the troublemaker is sowing trouble, then he can’t help but reap it and Solomon tells us that he will run into it coming and going! But the good news is that this also works in the positive. If you sow good seed daily then you will experience blessing coming and going; you will run into God’s best around every corner! Glory to God!

I have taught on sowing and reaping many times. However, there is something else in this verse that I need to highlight as well that may not be as familiar. It is the issue of expectation. Solomon tells us that the troublemaker is out “looking for” trouble. Since he is out looking for it, then he has no problem finding it. See, it is often difficult for you to receive what you cannot perceive. In other words, most of the time you have to receive something in your heart BEFORE you see the manifestation of it in your hands. Once you receive something in your heart, and you believe it is going to happen, then it is only a matter of time before it happens. Since the troublemaker already developed “an image” on the inside of the trouble he is seeking, and he already “sees himself” performing it, then it is only a matter of time before he gets the opportunity to make it happen. His mind and psyche are so focused on making the image a reality that he can’t help but make it happen.

The good news is that you can tap into this same power for good. If you get a positive image of what God wants to do in your life DOWN INSIDE of you and you really believe it, then you will enter every day with the expectation that it will come to pass. Once you do, it will only be a matter of time before it manifests.

So what does this mean to you t? It simply means that you should seek to sow the right seed and to enter every day with great expectations. If you do you will experience God’s best, because you will be doing your part in His provision!

Father, I thank You for teaching me this truth this morning. I refuse to sow the wrong seed. I know that I will reap whatever I sow. Therefore, I declare, by faith, that I will sow good seed daily and I will reap a great harvest continually. I enter every day with the assurance of knowing that I am doing my part and I have full confidence that You will do Yours. I have great expectations. I have an image, on the inside, of what You want to do in my life and I know that it is just a matter of time before that image becomes a reality. I expect to see it come to pass I believe that it will! In Jesus’ name. Amen!