PART ONE
The Apostle Paul said “faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.” Expecting something from God is the basis of our Christian faith. But in living in the realm of expectancy, I have also discovered the work of patience in my life. James taught us that patience has a perfect work in us if we will let her do her job efficiently. What patience does in us is so effective, it can even clean out false expectations.
Last Sunday, God began to speak to my family at our morning breakfast table about how dangerous false expectations could be in our lives. We all recalled the promises the Lord had spoken to each one of us, including reassuring us that my daughter Misty would be alright despite her current health situation. We relied on God’s promises during the battle for her very life, and the only expectation we had was that she was going to be healed. Yet we had no clue as to how that would happen.
Before our time in Italy, I dreamt I went through a series of doors, with each one getting smaller and smaller. Finally, when I came to a very small door, a door that I would have to squeeze through, I became claustrophobic in my sleep and said out loud, “God, I can’t do it! I’m getting claustrophobic!” After telling my family & the prophet Vello Vaim the dream at the breakfast table the next morning, my son, Sunny, walked into the room, having just come from an early morning service. He told us that the pastor had just told an unusual story about a dream he had that night. In the dream the pastor said that he had to keep going through smaller and smaller doors until he came to the last one, which he could barely squeeze through. But when the pastor squeezed through the tiny door, suddenly he was sitting at a table drinking tea with his favorite minister and his wife.
As I listened to my son, I thought, “Oh my Lord, if this pastor in Sweden can go through the small door, I repent, Lord, as surely I can squeeze through it. I just didn’t know that there would be a reward on the other side of the door!” This dream was important because it caused my family to have proper expectations, and I knew that a test was coming which would dramatically squeeze me.
A few months later when we arrived in Rome, Italy, my daughter Misty became very ill. When Sunny and Rocki asked me to call an ambulance, I went and asked the Lord if I should. The Lord said, “Yes. Misty is going to be alright. I have two doctors prepared for her and they will know exactly what her problem is.”
At that point, I had absolutely zero expectations of how her healing would happen. If you would’ve asked me at that moment, “What do you think is going to happen to your daughter?” I would have said, “The ambulance will rush my daughter to the hospital and they will find out exactly what is wrong with her, give her some medicine, and she will be OK.”
But that’s not what happened at all. I clearly had no preconceived ideas, and no false expectations, so there was nothing that satan could attack me with to weaken my faith in any way. The only thing I expected was what God had already told me, that she would be alright. What happened to Misty was completely unexpected, but the events did not discourage me because I didn’t have any false expectations.
A woman who is pregnant has expectations of giving birth, but she doesn’t know what the child is going to look or be like. The mother doesn’t know if the child will look more like her, or her husband; or how tall or how short it will be. There are countless possibilities and expectations which could be speculated, but pre-guessing all of the potential variables and creating false expectations only leads to disappointment.
In ancient Greece, Achilles had a great reputation of being the best warrior on the battlefield. it did not matter that he was a part of the army that used a Trojan horse to take over the city. During this famous battle a random arrow was shot by an enemy archer and it struck him in his heel. Even the smallest wound can lead to the defeat of a great warrior. We must be careful that we do not create preconceived expectations, for they could become our Achilles’ heel. They may not align with the will of God for our life.
The only protection from this error is to make sure that you only expect what the Lord Himself has promised you, and not how it will happen. This promise should be made through dreams, visions, words from prophets that are confirmed out of the mouth of two or three witnesses, and most of all the honest integrity of discernment within your heart to know that which is truly from God. Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
When God spoke to me before the Super Bowl last week, I knew not to have any expectations of the final score. So when I watched the Super Bowl I spoke the words from Jesus’ prayer, “Not My will but Your will be done.” God had a message for me and for the Christians of San Francisco in the game. God is going to bless us Christians that have been faithfully praying and seeking God for San Francisco. I’ll continue more on this next week. Keep praying with us on Periscope.
Sent in love,
Pastor Richard Gazowsky
PART TWO
Last week, I wrote about how important it is not to create preconceived expectations, for they can become our Achilles’ heel. Knowing that false expectations do not align with the will of God in our lives helps us to make sure you only expect what the Lord Himself has promised you, and not how it will happen. God’s promises can be made through dreams, visions, and words from prophets that are confirmed out of the mouth of two or three witnesses. Most of all, the honest integrity of discernment within your heart to know that which is truly from God is vital.
Let me go back to the story about my daughter Misty in Rome. Throughout every detail of her medical ordeal, my expectation was simply based on the word of God. The Lord had told me, “Misty is going to be alright.” We would not confess that which our eyes saw, but we just kept repeating the word of God to everyone ~ including ourselves! When we got to the hospital all I would say to the doctors, even when they told me of her death, was the word we had received from God, “Misty is going to be alright.” I could not expect anything beyond what God had given us, and I also knew that in such a spiritual battle it was important that I only speak what the Lord had said about the situation. But the situation became more difficult as the days progressed. Although her heart was beating with medical help, and she was alive, she was in a coma. Multiple doctors began to prepare me for the worst: a daughter that would wake up never being able to walk or talk again.
Each day as doctors described horrible scenarios about Misty, I still kept my expectations upon the word of God in my heart and spirit, “Misty is going to be alright.” This battle went on for three weeks. On the third weekend the doctor came running to me through the hospital corridors and said, “Mr. Gazowsky! Mr. Gazowsky! Come and help us!”
When I ran into Misty’s room she was screaming at the top of her lungs, “I’m so happy! I’m so happy! I’m so happy! Daddy, I can’t thank Jesus enough. I don’t even know how to thank Him! I’m so happy!!” As I told the Italian nurses and doctors what she was truly saying, they all began to clap and laugh, and we all rejoiced in the ICU unit. The faith we experienced was so pure and solid. Because it had not been based upon false expectations, we had no disappointments or Achilles’-heel type wounds.
As you can see by this example, false expectations can be dangerous and can blind you from seeing the full glory of a miracle. If I would’ve expected my daughter Misty to be healed instantly, while waiting for her recovery I would’ve been tortured and discouraged with a pounding from the enemy camp. But because I had no false expectations of anything, any sign of the slightest improvement in her condition built our faith like a strong fortress.
Each day I saw my daughter Misty lying in the hospital with all of those machines keeping her alive, and she would twitch her finger or move her foot ~ I would rejoice because I knew she was recovering. I knew things were getting better even if the improvements were in small little increments. One day I walked into Misty’s room singing an old gospel tune. I heard her make crackling sounds out of her breathing tube that were in time with the music I was singing! Oh man! I rejoiced like we had just won the Super Bowl.
Which brings me back to Super Bowl Sunday… If you remember last week, God spoke to me before the Super Bowl. Winning a championship is something that San Francisco has not done in a long time. I was wondering what the results of this game would signal in the Spirit, but I also knew not to have any expectations of the end result. So when I watched the Super Bowl I spoke the words from Jesus’ prayer, “Not My will but Your will be done.”
As the game began, San Francisco was winning. Through the majority of the Super Bowl game, San Francisco was the winning team. Suddenly, in the last seven minutes of the game, everything changed. Kansas City’s victory was stunning. When the Chiefs won, I knew it was totally the will of God; He loves last-minute finishes. And in this game, God had a message was for me and for the Christians of San Francisco.
There were several different responses in our family to the outcome of the game. I prayed, “Lord, please show me what Your message is.” The Lord spoke to me and said, “Did not I show you two weeks ago that when My hammer comes down, it is judgment and blessing simultaneously? The left hand is for judgment and the right hand is for blessing.”
God is going to bless the Christians that have been faithfully praying and seeking God in, and for, San Francisco. At the same time, He is going to judge our city publicly for the sins it has committed. Afterward, God immediately commanded me to go and do a simple prophetic act. The result of this act of obedience will affect us in the future. God bless you, and get ready for His blessings which are coming upon us all!
After writing this blog and drifting off to sleep, the Lord spoke to me in a dream and said, “Do you remember what I had you pray on Periscope, the Sunday morning before the Super Bowl game?” Go to the February 2nd Periscope to hear what we prayed, or click the link below. Be sure to watch and pray with us!
Sent in Love,
Pastor Richard Gazowsky
A Place To Meet Jesus 