Anticipation

Anticipation - noun

1. the act of anticipating or the state of being anticipated.

2. realization in advance; foretaste.

3. expectation or hope

(dictionary.com)

It feels like there are so many things to anticipate. It is looking forward to what is coming next, considering the possibilities. It's so easy to start planning what will unfold in the near future, but I have to constantly remind myself that God has a bigger plan than mine, and he KNOWS what is coming next! When I start making my own plans, I start putting my hope in what I want, instead of God's faithfulness.

Right now, I am anticipating what may be a significant change in my life. Because it relates to employment, I can't give a lot of details, but I'm excited! The change would be a step in a direction that I would really like. That's a red flag for me; the fact that I want this makes me leery of hoping too much for this change. Multiple times in the past, I have gotten very excited about something that I really wanted (don't we all?). So many of those things never came about, for one reason or another. In hindsight, I can see God's hand in withholding some of those things from me, or I choose to believe that my life was better without them. The concept of getting what I want - the fulfillment of my desires being part of God's will - seems kind of foreign to me!

I want to have discernment to see the difference between my selfish desires and the truth, in order that I will not make an idol out of what I want.

Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Colossians 3:5

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:12-17