Surprised By God

      Have there been moments in your life when you just knew with certainty that God had shown up? Maybe in recent days or weeks you have had one of these “God moments” as he surprised you with his presence. Many times we find ourselves expecting God’s “big surprises” while overlooking the smaller ones.

      God’s “big surprises” includes the use of a flood to destroy the world that he had created, dividing the Red Sea so that his people could escape, and then coming to earth as one of us so we could be reconciled with him again.

      Then there are the “little surprises.” God telling Abraham what he was about to do with Sodom as they walked along the road. God getting Moses’ attention with the burning bush in the desert, and showing up in a cave with Elijah. Jesus finding Zacchaeus in a tree and then going to supper with him. Jesus sitting beside the well talking to a Sumerian woman.

      If we look at the beginning of Abraham’s story, maybe we can hear God say, “I want you to go from your home and I will go with you. Through your faith and trust I will establish the real way of salvation. I will use you to build my kingdom.” What a surprise this must have been to Abram! Five chapters later Abram and his wife have another surprise. (Genesis 17:15-19) God surprised Abraham and Sarah by changing their names and announcing that Sarah would have a baby at ninety years old. We see Abraham falling down on the ground from laughing so hard.

      Does God ever surprise us today with tests of our faith? I believe our lives too are filled with “God moments,” surprises both big and small. Maybe the most important “God moment” for us is similar to the one Nicodemus had in his encounter with Jesus in John 3:1-17. When Nicodemus asked what he must do to be part of Jesus’ kingdom, Jesus’ surprising answer was, “You must be born again. Your life must start over and be radically changed.” What a surprise that must have been to Nicodemus!

      Imagine the surprise of Paul when he found out that the God whom he so faithfully served was the same person as Jesus whom he so faithfully opposed and persecuted.

      C.S. Lewis, who went from atheist to believer, wrote in his book Surprised by Joy; “Picture me alone in my room, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared came upon me…I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed; perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all of England…a prodigal was brought in God’s kingdom kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance to escape.” Lewis goes on to say that the biggest surprise of all was the realization that in all the years of resisting salvation, Jesus was there all the time.

      God sends his Spirit to convict us, he leads us along a journey when we don’t know the way, he opens doors of opportunity which seem impossible to us, and he makes serious demands on our lives. And he makes available to each of us the gift of “new birth.” God is full of surprises. Has he surprised you lately?

Rev. Tim McConnell, Long’s Chapel UMC, September 16,2012