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Everybody likes surprises.
Nobody likes surprises.
I suppose it really depends on the kind of surprise.
A few of your good friends getting together unbeknownst to you on your birthday is a lovely surprise.
But take the cop who always sits in the same ambushed location. Now that’s not a pleasant surprise.
But the mother of all surprises is the one that leaves you looking like the dear caught in the headlights. It’s the worst of all surprises because it’s bad and it’s unexpected. It leaves you shell shocked, dumb founded, numb. It leaves you reeling without a clue what to do next.
If you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, chances are that you’ve found yourself in the place of that deer. You turned your life over to Jesus Christ and expected things to get better. You thought God was now on your side, and you couldn’t wait to begin the journey. But no sooner had you started skipping down the road to heaven than you found yourself facing some pretty scary surprises.
Fear soon turned to disillusionment, and disillusionment to cynicism and separation from God.
I know. I’ve been there. All of a sudden the gap between what you thought would be and what actually is becomes so wide that nothing seems capable of bridging it.
But nothing is further from the truth. A careful look at God’s word shows that there really are no surprises. You’ve been a victim of ignorance or forgetfulness, and either way, the good news is that I’m about to give you the 3 most common surprises that Christians face that Christ has already warned us about.
1. The Surprise of Temptation. I can’t tell you how familiar I am with this “surprise”. All of a sudden I find myself with my face in the ground after failing miserably in sin. You can blame the flesh, you can blame Satan, but you can’t blame God for not warning you. After all, Jesus specifically asks for help to overcome temptation in the Lord’s prayer, but just in case you missed it, he repeats in in Luke 17:1 where He says “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!”. The surprise isn’t that temptations come, or that we fall like hapless victims to them. No..the surprise is that we do not take every precaution against them. God has made a way for us against them through Christ (I Corinthians 10:13), and He continues to provide mercy and grace for us when we do fall. Now that is reason to jump for joy!
2. The Surprise of Trial. Hey Christian! Are you facing difficult circumstances? Does life seem hard for you right now? Are you wondering where God is and how long things will remain hard? Listen to what Peter says in I Peter 4:12 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings!” James repeats the same thing in James 1:2. Will you stop for a minute and change your perspective? God has NOT abandoned you through this trial. No…He is making you perfect in it. Now that is reason to jump for joy!
3. The Surprise of Persecution. The last non surprise that Christians ought to know is found in II Timothy 3:12. Paul says these words “Indeed, ALL who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”. It’s a fact. If you are striving to be Christ like, you will be persecuted. So take that shocked look off your face and give glory to God instead. Interestingly, we are not told how persecution will come. Satan often uses the most surprising sources to attack us and cause us to doubt God’s love. I’m praying the truth will set you free. Like Paul in II Corinthians 12:10 we ought to be able to say “that is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” In other words, that is reason to jump for joy!
It doesn’t matter what day of the week this is, or how hard your life may seem right now, God sees every detail of your life, and He knows what you’re going through.
He leaves no room for surprises, but He gives us many reasons for joy!
