Surprise, Surprise

I didn't post last week.  My heart was busy reflecting, and my brain hadn't caught up yet. Seems to always be the case with me.. my deceitful heart rushes full steam ahead, and by the time my brain catches up, it's often too late to backtrack. That's a whole different post though :)

This week, I'm so thankful that we can't surprise God.  He knows what we're going to do, when we're going to do it, and what the aftermath will be.

I hate surprises. I don't even like presents, because of the element of surprise in them.  When someone tells me they got me a present, I get nervous and jittery.  I panic. I think it has to do with the reaction people "expect" from me, and not wanting to disappoint them.  It's also entirely possible that I'm just weird. 

A new Casting Crowns song has this chorus:

"When I'm lost in the mystery, to You my future is a memory"

I kinda love it.  I have no idea what the rest of the verses say, because I keep skipping back to the beginning just to hear this line again.

God knows our entire life before we are even conceived. (Jer 1:5, Psalm 139:13 and the whole chapter)

When we are facing major decisions in life, He already knows what we'll choose.

When we choose sin, He already knows to turn His face away from us. (Isaiah 59:2)

He even knows when we aren't sorry, when we know we should be. When we want to be. 

He knows when we'll come running back to Him, and He's always right there waiting for us.(Luke 15:11-32)

We can surprise people around us. We can surprise ourselves. It's how we hurt people, how we are hurt. Things we didn't see coming.  We react to that surprise in anger, tears, fear, disappointment.  If we weren't surprised by whatever happened, by whatever hurt us, we might be able to react differently.  In love, not anger.  Acceptance rather than disappointment or disillusionment. In mercy, not judgement.

Since we're not God, we're going to be surprised.  We're going to get hurt, and we can't change that.  We're going to hurt others, and often we can't change that either.

But we can maybe understand how God reacts to us by understanding that He is never surprised.  When I do something that displeases God, I think about how I would react if it were done to me. I think about how others react when I have hurt them.  And I project those feelings and reactions onto God.

God hates me. He's mad at me. He'll never forgive me.

But He's not surprised.  He doesn't hate me. He has forgiven me.


He reacted.  Once.  On the Cross. (Col 2:13-14)

That one reaction covered everything I've ever done, and everything I will ever do.  (John 19:30)

That one reaction gave me the freedom to come crawling back to Him.  (Hebrews 4:16)

That one reaction offers me new mercies, and He knows I'll need them. (Lamentations 3:22-23)


I don't know about you, but this week I'm grateful that His reaction isn't like mine. 


Brooke

If you're wanting to hear that song, here it is :)