Day 25: Jesus, You Surprise Me!

Do you ever feel as though you can’t handle your current situation? Are you discouraged by a trial that has gone on for what seems like forever? Then be encouraged, because the surprise of Jesus is just around the corner. You may not know what He is going to do, but you can be certain He will break through in your life in unusual and sometimes quite surprising ways. Today I read a number of devotionals and then from the OC Daily Devotional Bible. The Lord Jesus first surprised me with His Word. One verse in particular just jumped off the page and grabbed my heart. Psalm 112:7 in the KJV was quoted in Streams In The Desert (one of my very favorite devotionals). “He shall not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.” I love that whole idea of a “fixed heart.” Other translations speak of a steady, steadfast heart. I really liked the rendering of the NIV: “He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.” The “he” in Psalm 112 is the “gracious, compassionate, and righteous man, who fears the LORD, and finds great delight in His commands” (see Psalm 112:1, 4, 6).

Just when I least expect it, Jesus will surprise me with His Word and teach, encourage, challenge, and comfort me with words that pierce like an arrow straight into my heart. We have the Holy Spirit to thank for such constant teaching and ministering using the words of the Bible, God’s Word. But the surprise of Jesus doesn’t stop with His Word. Jesus is always at work and active in the very fabric of our heart and our lives. Today, Oswald Chambers in My Utmost For His Highest titled the devotion, “Leave Room For God.” Here are some of his best quotes from today’s reading: “We calculate and estimate, and say that this and that will happen, and we forget to make room for God to come in as He chooses. Would we be surprised if God came into our meeting or into our preaching in a way we had never looked for Him to come? Do not look for God to come in any particular way, but look for Him. That is the way to make room for Him. Expect Hi to come, but do not expect Him only in a certain way. However much we may know God, the great lesson to learn is that at any minute He may break in. We are apt to overlook this element of surprise, yet God never works in any other way. All of a sudden God meets the life (Galatians 1:15). Keep your life so constant in its contact with God that His surprising power may break out on the right hand and one the left. Always be in a state of expectancy, and see that you leave room for God to come in as He likes.”

I think about Joseph who was in that prison for so long, and yet he was always faithful. God poured out His grace and favor on Joseph even in prison. And one day, the surprise of God came and Joseph became a powerful leader in Egypt. Just like a magnificent sunrise changing the darkness of night, circumstances and situations in your life can turn in an instant because of God’s surprises. That’s why we must always calculate God in every situation. I disagree with certain applications of this statement that many quote: “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” People quote this in support of changing your ways, doing something different, and going in a new direction. Well, in some cases, a new direction, a new way, and doing something different IS necessary. But as always, that “something new” needs to be the result of God’s leading. Sometimes we need to persevere in what we are doing. Sometimes, faithfulness and endurance are the need of the hour. Jesus is faithful to lead and guide us as we follow Him. With the Lord at work, He can surprise us with something amazing, incredible, and wonderful – He is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work with Him” (Ephesians 3:20). Just think about the day when Jesus took the bread and fish and multiplied those few morsels to feed five thousand people. What a surprise. I guarantee you, the disciples were amazed and so were the five thousand. There was more than enough food and the remaining fragments filled twelve baskets. So too, He is able to take the seeming smallness and weakness of our lives and multiply who we are to make us more than enough to match the need of the hour. McClaren says, “Each of us may be sure that if God sends us on stony paths, He will provide us with strong shoes, and He will not send us out on any journey for which He does not equip us well” (Streams In The Desert).” So today, may we all eagerly and expectantly watch for Jesus to surprise us with His Presence, His Word, and His Works.

My Response: Lord Jesus, thank You for Your surprises when I least expect them. Will You steady my heart and give me a firm trust in You today? I think of David’s example in Psalm 5:3, and leave all my cares and needs with You, and then eagerly watch to see what You will do. In Jesus’ name, Amen.