I don’t think the disciples ever had a surprise party for Jesus. For one, it is not in the bible, but it is hard to imagine the disciples hiding behind chairs in the dark and waiting for Jesus to walk in. Mary being in the corner, ready to light a lamp when he comes in the door. And when Jesus arrives he just smiles and says, “I knew all along.”
Actually, knowing Jesus, he would probably come through the back door and hide with Peter and ask him, “Who are we waiting for?”. We always expect Christ to show up one way, but he always seems to be the one surprising us.
I can think of so many Bible stories where God surprises someone. Lazarus being risen was a surprise. The water into wine was a surprise. The parting of the red sea. Most people were surprised by the flood. Even the disciples were surprised by Jesus’ resurrection.
God will always surprise us, but you can’t surprise God.
This idea came up in a conversation I had with a friend awhile back. I had to really let that sink in, too. God is not surprised about where you are right now. If things are bad he is not taken off guard. He is not shocked about what has happened to you.
The same goes for if things are good. He is still not surprised. He’s the one that blessed you, but we still act like God is not paying attention and needs to understand more. But God knows each and every situation we come into better than we can ever understand it.
He knows us better than we know ourselves. Matthew 10:30 says, “And the very hairs on your head are all numbered.” I don’t think we give God enough credit for what he knows sometimes. Also, I think we give ourselves too much credit. In the end, God is never surprised.
GOD IS NOT SURPRISED
He wasn’t surprised when Peter cut off a man’s ear. He wasn’t when Jonah was swallowed by whale. When Noah had to build an ark. He wasn’t when Adam and Eve bit into the fruit. All of those times he was still God and knew more than anyone could understand.
That is where we fall short. We can think we know a lot. We can be educated and wise. Some people have a lot of common sense, but we quickly forget that we can never know as much as God. He always knows what is best.
That is why it says in 1 Peter 5:6, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” We can’t trust our own thinking. We are flawed with sin and only God can bring us peace and guidance. If we begin to rely on ourselves we end looking up at God and saying, “Why?”.
And he looks down and is not taken off guard, he is not confused, and knows exactly what you need and understands your thoughts. When we ask God “why”, we really don’t give him enough credit.
WE GET SURPRISED
Life always seems to take us off guard. I know too many people who say, “I never saw my life turning out like this.” Sometimes that is a good thing. Sometimes it seems like a bad thing, but when God is truly in control of your life it really doesn’t matter. God’s plans are always better than our own.
So, even though your are shocked by your situation, remember God is not shocked. He is not worried at all and neither should you. He says in Matthew 6:34, “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today” God doesn’t want us to over-think our lives. He wants us to take things one step at a time and let each worry handle itself. We are never going to have our ideas and reasonings work out the way we see them, but we know that God’s ways and plans are much better than our own.
Anything can happen to us. Good or Bad. Just remember we are the ones that get surprised. God is not surprised at all and is willing to help, bless, support, and give. And we must remember when we are surprised by good things to give praise and thank him. We should be doing that all of the time, but to forget that when he blesses us is a tragedy. God is good and he’ll always know what to do in your life.
Off The Cuff Christian 