Expect Attempt

In a blog entry from some time ago here Michael Haykin tells us a little about William Carey’s famous sermon of May 1792, preached on Isaiah 54:2-3, a sermon that consisted of two parts summed up by two phrases in this order: “Expect great things from God” and “Attempt great things for God.”

I turned to it having come across an example where the order had been reversed. You'd be amazed how often that happens. The google top 10 should be found here. Often it is a mere mistake but sometimes the re-ordering betrays an attitude quite different to Carey's own Calvinistic one. There is a world of difference between attempting then expecting and expecting then attempting.