In December 2017, I hosted an affirmation party. It was at that party that I dubbed myself a founding member of what I call the Manifest Mafia. The Manifest Mafia is an unofficial community of humans who believe we have the ability to shift our energy to attract anything. And I’m a proud founding member.
When I was single and childless, my energy shift looked like telling my colleagues I couldn’t use all of my days off because I was saving my days for maternity leave. I had no husband, no boyfriend, and no prospects. But I was in the energy of having it all.
Being in the energy of having all of my desires, inspired me to celebrate when people around me reached those milestones. The golden rule of the Manifest Mafia: celebrate that which you desire.
I was always among the first to celebrate those around me. Genuinely. Loudly. Because their blessing was evidence that what I desired existed in the world. And if it existed, I could have it too. And if I were truly in the energy of already having it, why wouldn't I celebrate someone else being there too?
The Amplified Bible describes hope as “the confident expectation of good.” Not wishful thinking. Not toxic positivity. Confident expectation.
There’s a difference between following Christ and believing in Him. You can go to church, read your Bible, serve in ministry, and still not actually believe He will do it for you. Specifically. Personally. In your lifetime.
We’ve seen Him move for other people so many times that we’ve filed it under “that’s just not how it works for me.” We’ve lived so long in the process that we can’t embrace God doing it now. We’ve waited so long we’ve confused the waiting with the answer.
Acts 3 tells the story of a man who was lame from birth. Every day he was carried to the temple gate called Beautiful to beg. It was his routine. His ceiling. The most he believed he could expect from any given day was a few coins from people on their way to worship.
When he saw Peter and John approaching, he asked for money, per usual. But Peter looked straight at him and said, “Look at us.” And the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
He was expecting. Just not enough.
Peter said: “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
Instantly the man feet and ankles became strong. He went into the temple courts walking and jumping and praising God. He came to that gate expecting coins. He left with his whole life changed.
He didn’t see it coming. He thought he would spend the rest of his life at that gate. But one moment of favor, one exceeded expectation, brought him to a new level.
That’s who God is. Able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. He specializes in exceeding expectations.
Surpassing. Overflowing.
God isn’t playing favorites when He’s blessing those around you. They just had the nerve and the courage and the faith to ask. To ask big. To believe big. To expect something when they showed up.
God will meet you at your expectation.
Which means if you show up expecting coins, He’ll meet you there too. Stop looking at your past. Stop limiting what God can do by what He’s done before, or what He’s done for someone else.
Go to Him and say, I’m open to something new. I’ve never seen you do what I’m asking. I’ve never seen you bless in this way. But I’m open to it.
Because sometimes we are so deep in the waiting, so accustomed to being outside the gate, so practiced at surviving the process, that we don’t even know what we would do if He showed up right now and said walk.
And celebrating someone else’s blessing? That’s you agreeing with the evidence. That’s you saying this exists...and if it exists, it’s available...and if it’s available, it can be mine.
Every pregnancy announcement I celebrated, every engagement ring I gushed over, every successful business launch I toasted was an act of faith. I was living in the frequency of the thing I was believing for. Because that energy was already in me. Which is why it kept showing up around me.
The old folks used to say “he’s in my neighborhood” when someone got blessed. They understood that proximity to a blessing was proof that yours was on the way.
That hasn’t changed.
od isn’t withholding from you. He’s waiting to see what you’ll dare to believe Him for.
Consider…
Where have you grown cold in your expectation? What area of your life have you quietly stopped believing God can move in?
What blessing in someone else’s life have you struggled to celebrate genuinely?
What does that tell you about what you’re still believing for?
I love you.
Coi Marie
Affirmations:
I am open to something I have never seen God do before.
I am living the life I was brave enough to ask for.
If this landed for you, pass it on. First time reading? Catch up at afteramen.org.
