Great Expectations

A Reflection on the Psalm for January 19th, 2019:
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Psalm 40

R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. 

R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. 

R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

Then I said, “Here I am; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” 

R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord. 

R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

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To truly desire to live out the will of God in our daily lives can be really hard sometimes. I’m not always willing to give up the control that that requires. It takes daily commitments to God to live for Him and His purpose. It may be tough, but it is so worth it.


When we really think about what it means to do God’s will and to strive to live for His purpose, we learn we must heavily rely on the Lord and trust in Him. In order to have this trust, we have to really intend to believe in our identity in the Lord; our identity as children of God.


Over the Christmas break, I had the amazing opportunity of attending a Catholic Christian Outreach conference called Rise Up. It is a 5 day conference with intriguing talks, amazing music, and time for prayerful reflection. Before entering into the conference, the participants were asked to reflect on their “great expectation” for the conference. We were to show up with expectant faith that God would show up in a great way and answer our prayer, or expectation. After reflecting on areas in my life where I needed the Lord’s guidance, I realized that I had not fully understood my identity in Him. So that became my great expectation: to really understand my identity in God.


What we put our value in, and define our worth by, determines how we see ourselves; our identity. I realized that I was putting too much of my value in my performance in school and other things that led me to feel like a failure when I fell short of my self-inflicted expectations. Rather than seeing my value and worth as infinite because of my identity as a child of God, made in His perfect image, I was often being very critical of myself, which always leads to an unhappy mindset.


As the week went on, I kept praying that my great expectation would be answered. On the third evening of the conference, they ended the night by gathering into groups to pray over each other. As one of the ladies in my group was praying over me, she said that she had been hearing over and over the words: “beautiful beloved daughter”. In that moment, my great expectation had been met. I am God’s daughter and He loves me infinitely.


Knowing your identity in the Lord can motivate you to really desire to live for Him and with Him. I encourage you to pray about this if you struggle at times with living out His will. He wants to hear about your struggles and to help you through that process of letting go of your reservations. You are a beautiful, beloved, child of God. ​



​Megan Noye

Photo by Yousef Espanioly on Unsplash

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