Evangel Books - Finding and following Jesus

Omer Count Day 47 — Expectation

“Behold, I am coming to you...” (Exodus 19:9 TLV)

I keep thinking about what the camp must have felt like at this point. The mountain standing there. The waiting. The stillness before something they could not fully see yet. Yehovah had said He was coming. And suddenly, ordinary time probably didn't feel ordinary anymore. People prepare differently when they know someone important is about to arrive. The atmosphere changes. Your attention changes. Things that normally distract you suddenly feel less important because your focus shifts toward what's ahead. Expectation does that.

I think somewhere along the way, many people lose "it" without realizing, not their belief, not their faith, but "expectation".

Things can easily become familiar. Prayer becomes routine. Worship becomes something you do instead of something you enter into. You read Scripture, but sometimes your heart no longer leans forward with the same hunger or anticipation it once had. You still know Yehovah is real... but you stop expecting Him to move closely, personally, deeply.

And maybe that's part of why this moment before Sinai matters so much. Israel wasn't just passing time until the next day arrived. There was awareness in the camp now. A sense that something holy was near. Something weighty. Something that demanded attention. Expectation keeps the heart awake. Not emotional hype. Not trying to force an experience. Just a real awareness that Yehovah is not distant or absent. That He still speaks. Still moves. Still draws near.

And I also think expectation changes the way you listen. You pray differently. You worship differently. You approach His Word differently. Because deep down, you are no longer just going through motions. You are waiting with awareness. Watching. Paying attention. And maybe this is part of what the Omer journey has been doing all along. Not just refining behavior... but waking the heart back up again. Because Sinai was drawing near. And the people knew Yehovah was coming.

Daily Devotional

Timothy Keller

USING THE FUTURE ON THE PRESENT

There’s no indication that David’s pain or circumstances have changed, so this final burst of praise is astonishing. David looks forward to a time when there will be no sickness, evil, or oppression, when all things will be put right. And Paul says that in some inexplicable but wonderful way our sufferings now are going to make that eventual glory even more brilliant and wonderful (2 Corinthians 4:16–18). If we believe in Christ this is a guaranteed inheritance that can’t be eaten by moths or stolen by time (Matthew 6:19– 25). When we receive healings and deliverances now, they are small windows into the great things to come.

Learn to look through those windows, cling to his promised salvation, and praise him. Prayer: Lord, I must learn to praise you—it is the only thing that will honor you and will fulfill me. “Therefore with my utmost art I will sing thee; And the cream of all my heart, I will bring thee.”60 Amen.

Verse of the Day

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