In Acts 3 is the story of a forty-year-old man who had been crippled since birth. Every day he was carried to the temple gate where he asked people for money—this was his daily routine and his only means to survive. One day Peter and John were about to enter the temple when the man went through his same old speech, "Can you please spare me some change?" I can see him hold out his bag as he always did, fully expecting they were going to deposit some coins. But Peter said, "I don't have silver or gold for you, but I'll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus, rise up and walk." Peter took him by the hand and instantly his feet and ankles were healed. The man was so excited that he took off walking, leaping, and thanking God.
This man was expecting a few coins, the same thing that happened for forty years. He was expecting the ordinary, but God showed up and exceeded his expectations. The man didn't see it coming. He thought he would have to beg for the rest of his life, but that one moment of favor, that one exceeded expectation changed his whole world. I can hear him saying, "I never dreamed I'd be able to walk, or to run and play with my children, or to work and be productive. I never dreamed I'd be this fulfilled!"
We all have things we're believing for—dreams to come to pass, problems to turn around. We'd be happy if it worked out our way, but sometimes what we have in mind is not God's best. We think ordinary; God thinks extraordinary. We think enough to get by; God thinks abundance. We think let me manage this addiction; God thinks freedom. We ask for the possible when God wants to do the impossible. We look at things logically, but God is a supernatural God. He specializes in exceeding our expectations. What He has planned for you is bigger, more rewarding, more fulfilling than you've dreamed. The apostle Paul says it best: "God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20).
God has some of these "I never dreamed" blessings in store for you. Now don't talk yourself out of it. Similar to the crippled man, sometimes we've struggled in an area for so long that we've gotten comfortable with it. We're expecting a few coins, something to sustain us, but God is about to do a new thing. You're believing for the ordinary; God is going to the extraordinary. He's going to take you where you've never been. No more coins, no more dysfunction, no more being stuck in your career. You're about to come into exceeded expectations. So why don't you put your faith out there?