expect the worst.

A friend was in the process of preparing a sermon for a preaching course seminar they were enrolled in. They would be teaching the sermon in 4 days, and was working through the outline and plan for their message. They said to me “We’ll see how it goes. Hope for the best and expect the worst!”

I was immediately hit with one word from the Lord: No.

We won’t just see how it goes and hope for the best all the while expecting the worst.

We aren’t called to expect the worst. We are heirs with Christ. We are a child of the King of kings. We are conquerors through Christ! We no longer have to expect the worst because it’s not longer I, but Christ who lives within me!

When God has placed us somewhere or when we are doing the work and purpose, He – in all of His power and authority – has called us to, we should not only hope for the best, but also expect it. In this case, we can expect that God will use the message that His Spirit planted in their heart directly from His Word! We should believe that. He can and He will!

What’s better – he will, even in spite of our “worst.” If we are living in our own flesh and sinful desires, certainly we could plan for the worst. But we have been bought. We are covered. Our old self has been put away, and we are now living in the newness of Christ. He suffered, shed his blood, and died on the cross so that we could live, live abundantly, and live eternally with Him!

In spite of our sin.

In spite of our weakness.

In spite of our worst.

We now claim the authority we have as co-heirs with Christ.

You may be thinking… wow, all of that from a little saying. But yes. Yes, we have access to all of that as children of God. We don’t have to live in a state of doubt or wonder about anything. We know that He works all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

So, with that in mind, we can remove “expect the worst” from our vocabulary.

Even when something goes wrong, even when storms come,

even when what seems to be “the worst” has arrived –

we can be confident in His purpose and His love for His children.

Take hold of these declarations in scripture:

• Romans 8:17

• Psalm 82:6

• Isaiah 43:7

• Romans 8:37

• Galatians 2:20

• Matthew 28:18

• 1 Corinthians 6:20

• Ephesians 4:22-24

• Isaiah 53:5

• John 10:10

• Romans 8:28