Dear Friends,
I love being
surprised.
While I was driving home
from Florida last week, the phone rang. I was surprised to hear a friend of
mine on the other end of the line. My friend Jim was calling to apologize for
being a day late in remembering the anniversary of Jean's passing, part of the
very reason I traveled to Florida in the first place as I had wanted to be with
friends Jean and I made while we lived in Fort Lauderdale.
For many years I have
called Jim every November 10th, the day his young and talented college daughter
was shot to death in a botched computer robbery. The conversation is always
short and to the point.
"I'm thinking of
you on this day. I love you and I want you to know that I'm praying for you and
Signe," his wife, Signe." That's pretty much all I say, and I hope
that's enough.
Little did I expect
that I would receive a similar and surprise call from my dear friend as I
headed home to New Jersey. Short and sweet and to the point. "I'm thinking
of you today and wanted you to know that I'm praying for you and your
family."
My friend's surprise
call made things a little easier on my. long trip home.
Sometimes Jesus comes
to us through some unexpected person at some unexpected time in some unexpected
place. The Lord will come to you through a brother or sister, through a family
member or friend. But so often, like Mary's. unexpected conversation at the
tomb our eyes are so filled with tears that we don't always recognize it's the
Lord speaking to us, and we are surprised by the unexpected
This experience made
me think of a message I read and saved from Charles Swindoll's Day by Day
Devotional.
He told of how the
famous Englishman Horace Walpole, was reading a Persian fairy tale that brought
joy to his heart on a cold, dreary day. The story brought a smile to his face,
and so he wrote to his longtime friend, Horace Mann, telling him of the
thrilling approach to life he had discovered from the folktale.
The ancient tale told
of three princes from the island of Ceylon, who set out on a pursuit of
great treasures. They never found those treasures for which they searched, but
in route they were continually surprised by delights they found along their
journey and which they had never anticipated. In looking for one thing, they
found another.
The original name of
Ceylon was "Serendipity", which explains the title of this story, The
Three Princes of
Serendip. From that, Walpole
coined the wonderful word, "serendipity," and from then on, his most
significant and valued experiences were those that happened to him while he was
least expecting them.
"A serendipity
occurs when something beautiful breaks in to the monotonous and the mundane. A
serendipitous life is marked by surprise and spontaneity." Day by Day,
Charles Swindoll.
As I thought about the
background of this wonderful word, I found myself thinking of the many ways God
has surprised His people. There was Abraham and Sarah, Zachariah and
Elizabeth, and Mary and Joseph, all being surprised to learn that children
would be born into their families when they least expected it.
There were other
surprises. There was the surprise of those praying for Peter safety only to
discover him standing on their front doorstep; And then there were those
disciples walking the Road to Emmaus with a stranger only to discover to
their surprise that the stranger walking with them was none other than Jesus.
And what about the surprise of the women who came and discovered the empty
tomb, and the appearance of Jesus in the upper room following his crucifixion,
and the list goes on and on
God is in the
wonderful business of surprising people, and He's good at it. He seems to show
up at just the right time and in just the right place. He is the "Master
of Surprises."
It was Oswald Chambers
who wrote, "When you are rightly related to God, it is a life full of
spontaneous joyful uncertainty and expectancy- we do not know what God is going
to do next; He packs our life with surprises." (Quotations for the Christian
World, Edith Draper)
The prophet Isaiah
said it a little differently when he wrote, "See, I am doing a new
thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the
desert and streams in the wasteland." (Isaiah 43:19)
The next time the
heavy storm clouds of disappointment hover over your head, or the winds of
adversity come howling across the landscape of your life, remember that God is
in the business of showing up big time. So, let's all be standing on tiptoes,
for God may just well be planning a special serendipity in your life, and how
exciting that would be.
And yes, don't forget
"that it is when you are out of options that we are most ready for God's
surprises." Max Lucado.
Yours in faith and
friendship,
Tom
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