By Istara (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Well, on second thought, all these are pretty big surprises because none of them are without sacrifice. All require God’s hand at work.
I love to give surprises: Birthday parties, send flowers, bake a cake, take someone to lunch, call a sibling (not as often as I want to or should), send a text, or write a letter of gratitude.
Our God is a god of surprises–all day, every day since the beginning. His Word proves this over and over. I have long said, “what God does don’t make no sense!” (I know the grammar is terrible, with its double negatives and Southern slang.) But really, look through the Word and keep a record of how the Lord does things, who He uses, and His timing, and discover NOTHING from our human perspective makes a “lick of sense.” It is irrational, poorly timed, the worst candidate to complete the task and the least likely option to succeed!!! BUT GOD! He is a God of SURPRISE!
I Samuel 3:11 “And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.” This pretty much sums up the Lord’s intent with all He does: Listen up people, I am God and there is no other and if you just watch, wait, and listen I will prove this to you and everyone else.
Jesus began His surprises with a wedding in Cana and even though He told His mom “it is not time,” Mary told the servants, “Do WHATEVER He tells you too!” She had lived with Jesus for some thirty years and knew He was full of surprises!!! (John 2:1-25) Jesus learned this from His heavenly Father who surprised the world centuries earlier with an elderly couple and a baby’s birth! (Genesis 17) The Son of God’s journey to come to earth as a man had begun in a most unexpected way.
Are you praying about something and the answers do not seem to come? Are you expecting things to work out in a certain way? Remember this: “Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19) Maybe, just maybe it has been answered but in a way you did not expect. God will surprise you!
This god-like quality of surprise is ours too. We can receive and give surprises. We take all God has given and share with others in unexpected ways. Watch for God’s surprise to you today and look for an opportunity to surprise another and make their day special. In this endeavor you are never more like the God in whose image you were created. .
Treading with the pearls,
Mark Hall and Megan Garrett-Who But You
