UnexpectedSample

It’s time for us to get good at navigating the unexpected, to embrace and understand that through unexpected occurrences in life—both good and bad—we need to trust God, anticipating him to move in it while he moves us through it. We need to realize that he never expected us to live boring and predictable lives, even though we work hard to create regular routines. He’s called us to live a life full of joys and sorrows, battles and celebrations, success and failures, ups and downs. And he wants us to learn how to live expecting to gain from the unexpected, especially as the world grows ever more chaotic and unpredictable. 

In our humanness, we will try to control everything—including God. Yet, we serve a God who refuses to be controlled by us. That’s because part of the mystery and the adventure of following Jesus is to trust him, no matter what is going on around us. To keep our hearts so open to him, that when the unexpected happens, he can use it for our good. To free him to use the unexpected—a necessary catalyst—to grow us, sanctify us and help us see life with a whole new perspective, because nothing grows without disruption and interruption—without the unexpected. 

If we could get this truth deeply woven into the fabric of our being, we would be far less fearful in a world that is complex and ever-changing. We could relax in knowing that while we cannot expect to control the unexpected, God is in control of everything, and therefore we can expect that he will be faithful to the promises he has given us in his Word.

The unexpected adventure ahead of us is sure to have twists and turns that we didn’t see coming, where the odds will stack up against us, but that’s when God will have us right where he wants us. Perfectly poised in a place to walk in faith, believing for signs, wonders and miracles, expecting the supernatural. 

Adapted from Unexpected: Leave Fear Behind, Move Forward in Faith, Embrace the Adventure by Christine Caine. Copyright © 2018 by Christine Caine. Reprinted with permission of Zondervan Publishing. All rights reserved.