Monday as I was preparing breakfast for Alex I realized I purchased crunchy peanut butter instead of the smooth and creamy. Now you may be thinking “so what’s the big deal?” Well, you are not the parent of Alex Daniel Brown. I carefully spread the peanut butter on one slice of bread and laid it down, following that I ever so gently smoothed the grape jelly around the second piece of bread. As usual, I put the two pieces together and tenderly removed the crusts. All the time thinking to myself “I won’t draw this peanut butter mishap to his attention because, after all, he does like peanuts.” I invited him to breakfast and had him say prayers. Before joining him I ran to the back of the house to unplug my flat iron. Just as soon as I entered the bathroom I heard it “Mom…” “Yes, Alex” I replied as I peaked around the corner. “My peanut butter has peanuts in it.” I took a deep breath and said “Isn’t that neat, Alex…you do like peanuts.” Alex looked perplexed and said “Yes, but not in my peanut butter.” Thankfully there was a little tiny bit of smooth and creamy peanut butter left in the bottom of the jar I had earlier thrown away. Yes I did it ~ I pulled the trash out and pulled the jar off the top, opened it and scrapped the last bit of smooth peanut butter out to make his breakfast PB&J.
When Alex bit into his sandwich that morning he expected the usual ~ smooth and creamy peanut butter with grape jelly on white, crust less bread. He was surprised to find out what he had come to expect was not what he experienced.
When we follow in obedience to Christ there are certain things we come to expect from Him. We expect Him to be consistently faithful, forgiving, loving, patient, fair-minded and honest.
“For Jesus doesn't change—yesterday, today, tomorrow, he's always totally himself.”
~ Hebrews 13:8 (The Message)
What can be unexpected about Him is the path in which He directs our lives ~ His Divine design for us. He chooses and uses the unexpected in supernatural ways. Let’s look at a couple of the “unexpected” ones God chose to use in astonishing ways.
1. Mary, the mother of Jesus
A teen-ager ~ some speculate around the age of 13 ~ was chosen to be the mother of Jesus Christ, Himself. I try to imagine what it was like for her to hear the news from the angel sent by God. Luke’s account says this…
“Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.” ~ Luke 1:30, 31(NLT)
Now, honestly, do you think she was expecting that type of news? Here she is a young girl preparing to wed an honorable man. The romantic in me hears conversations between Joseph and Mary as they prepare to wed. “I am so thankful my parent’s chose you for me, Joseph.” “Mary, I knew you were the one for me when I first saw how much you loved our Lord.” The last thing either one of them thought they would be dealing with was her conceiving the Son of God through the intervention of the Holy Spirit. Unexpected news ~ yes… Divine design ~ yes…
2. The Apostle Paul
Persecutor. Torturer. Killer. This is how the followers of Jesus Christ knew Saul. His Damascus road conversion and what followed after had to be the craziest, most dumbfounding news the followers had ever heard. I am sure they were rendered speechless when the topic of conversation steered toward this man named Saul who is now Paul and no longer kills Christ’s followers. This is what Paul said about His life before Christ:
"My dear brothers and fathers, listen carefully to what I have to say before you jump to conclusions about me." When they heard him speaking Hebrew, they grew even quieter. No one wanted to miss a word of this.
He continued, "I am a good Jew, born in Tarsus in the province of Cilicia, but educated here in Jerusalem under the exacting eye of Rabbi Gamaliel, thoroughly instructed in our religious traditions. And I've always been passionately on God's side, just as you are right now.
"I went after anyone connected with this 'Way,' went at them hammer and tongs, ready to kill for God. I rounded up men and women right and left and had them thrown in prison. You can ask the Chief Priest or anyone in the High Council to verify this; they all knew me well. Then I went off to our brothers in Damascus, armed with official documents authorizing me to hunt down the followers of Jesus there, arrest them, and bring them back to Jerusalem for sentencing. “ ~ Acts 22: 1-5 (The Message)
Paul’s ministry opened up the avenue for Greek’s, that is you and me, to have the opportunity to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and have the option of choosing to know, love and follow Him. This murderer…this hater…this follower is now considered the greatest missionary of all time. Unexpected person ~ yes… Divine design ~ yes…
3. Insert your name here
Are you as surprised as I am that God would have a divine design for our lives? I look at my life and the many, MANY times I have fallen short, disappointed Him, made a wrong decision (a decision made without consulting Him) and just flat chose to follow my own lead. It is then I wonder why in the world He would still honor me by choosing to use me? I am coming to realize…
· God is not expecting sinless perfection but a heart after His ~ look at David….
· God is not expecting me to walk on water, but be trusting enough to do so if He asks ~ look at Peter…
· God is not expecting me to walk into a King’s court unannounced thus facing death but be willing to do so for His sake ~ look at Esther…
· God is not expecting me to love when tragedy comes my way but rather bless and praise Him when it does ~ look at Job…
What is your unexpected news? Mine, we are leaving the comforts of Oak Hill Baptist Church and venturing out to enlarge LIFT Student Ministries’ territory.
Who is the unexpected person? Me.
Sidebar: I told Dan shortly after our transition when the why’s of life were a constant topic of our conversation that God knew if He asked Dan to walk these waters, he would do just that and do it with integrity. As for me, He is growing me in my new territory…
What about you? Are you ready for the unexpected of life? Are you ready for His Divine design for your life? He is waiting to reveal it to you.
In Him,
Stefanie
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