Our expectation of God’s promises becoming a reality is vital to establishing His Word in our hearts. We expect to be healed because we have found healing
in God’s Word. We expect prosperity and peace because God has already provided it for every person who will receive it.

An expectation is a strong anticipation.

One of our family dogs was a Yorkshire terrier named Elliot. Like many dogs, when a dog biscuit was held in front of him, he knew the right thing to do.
He was certain that he would get the treat if he was perfectly still and controlled. His eyes never left the treat. He was focused and undistracted.
His confidence was high—and although his nickname was Mr. Motion—he would remain still until he got what he expected.

Hope is a confident expectation. Intense expectation and hope work together hand in hand. With an intense and confident expectation we can look forward
to the promises of God becoming reality in our lives. Circumstances will not detour our attention from God’s promises. We must hold fast to what our
faith in God’s Word promises that we have received.

The farmer cannot stop and switch crops in the middle of the year. If there are difficult times, he must remain diligent in his work and confident that
it will pay off in the end. He does everything in his power to keep the seed free from weeds and prepared for the rain.

Nor can the farmer change the weather conditions to make it rain. But this is where we, the believer, differ from the farmer, because there is something
we can do to bring the rain of the Holy Spirit onto our seed.

We can create an atmosphere for God’s rain. Rain doesn’t come out of a cloudless sky. Sometimes it doesn’t even come out of a cloudy sky. Rain comes only
when the atmospheric conditions are correct.

In the Bible, rain often represents the blessing and presence of God being poured onto His people. Hosea 6:3 says, “Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge
of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth” (NKJV).

Again in Ezekiel 34:26 it says, “I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season;
there shall be showers of blessing” (NKJV).

These are the days of the outpouring of God’s presence and the moving of God’s Spirit in a greater measure than at any other time in history. As believers,
if we are to be full of God’s presence and experiencing His blessing, we must cultivate an attitude of obedience and a yielded heart toward God and
His Word. Those who obey Him will best reveal His presence.