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Morning
Devotions with Chris Witts
I wonder if you are the sort of person who
likes surprises?
Do you enjoy surprise parties, do you like
receiving surprise Christmas or birthday presents when you don’t know what
you’re getting?
If you’re the sort of person who doesn’t like
surprises, it’s probably because you like life to be under control,
well-planned, everything timetabled to your satisfaction.
And let’s face it, most of us are a bit like
that because we like to be in control of what’s happening — if we’re honest.
You may remember Gomer Pyle, the popular TV
character played by Jim Nabors back in the mid to late 1960s.
He got his own TV show on American CBS and is
still considered a legend today with many film, TV and singing accolades.
Gomer Pyle was immensely popular. He was
naive and awe-struck, and one of his favourite expressions was, “Surprise,
surprise, surprise”.
For him life was full of surprises.
Whether we like it or not, life is full of
surprises.
A woman once asked her husband, Do you like
surprises?
I’m sure he wondered what she had in mind,
but he answered correctly.
You have to like surprises, because life is
full of them. How true is that.
Some surprises are good, and some are bad.
Most of us don’t like
bad surprises — like the poster I saw: “I try to take just one day at a
time, but lately several days have attacked me at once”.
Surprises are the stuff of life, whether it’s
an unanticipated diagnosis, a bouquet of roses, an unexpected guest, a car that
pulls out in front of you, a freak storm or a phone call letting you know
you’ve just won a fabulous prize in a drawing.
Every day we face the possibility of being
surprised.
Life is full of surprises — you never know
who will surprise you or how it will happen.
Everyday when you wake up, you could be
confronted with a life-changing day.
This is the reason you need to know how to
handle life’s surprises.
But there’s another angle to this: that God’s
ways are often surprises, because his ways are not our ways.
Walking with God
In your life, always full of the unexpected,
you can bank on God to:
o move in surprising
ways as he fulfills his purposes and his sovereign will
o love you
unconditionally
o hear and answer
prayer
o have all the
resources you need to live life triumphantly, no matter what
o do all he has
promised in his Word
o be all he says he is.
We need to get in step with God.
Walking with God in life’s journey makes a
tremendous difference in how we experience and come out of life’s
disappointments and wonderful surprises.
Back in 1985 Father Gerard Hughes wrote a
book called God of Surprises, and in it he says God breaks into the human heart
and soul with new understanding.
He says, “God has
often surprised me, but he has never disappointed me”.
And I agree — it’s absolutely true. God will
never disappoint you.
We should make plans — counting on God to
direct us. (Proverbs
16:9 – Living Bible)
Psalm 57:2 says,
“I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me”.
The writer of
Proverbs says, “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps”.
(Proverbs
16:9).
That means God will overrule our plans if he
wants to.
His timing is perfect, and he never does
anything accidentally, and he never makes mistakes.
He remains faithful and will open doors for
us we never saw coming, and lead us into the future.
So, don’t be alarmed with what may happen.
God’s surprises can happen anytime.
They don’t happen every day, but when they
do, you know it.
I’m not talking of coincidences. It might be
an answer to prayers from many years ago — but he has come to you.
Ephesians 3:20 says, “…his
power at work in us can do far more than we ask or imagine”.
I know who holds the
future,
And I know who holds
my hand;
With God things don’t
just happen—
Everything by Him is
planned.
- (Albert
B. Smith)
PRAYER : Help me, dear Lord, to be open to your
surprises. May I see the small ones so I might accept them with a grateful
heart. I want to be open also to the big surprises, Amen.
In
today's world real hope is hard to find. That's why Hope 103.2 exists:
to bring the message of hope to our community through a family-friendly, safe
listening environment.
We
won't be quick to criticise or condemn. And we won't play on people's fears. Hope
103.2 will be ready to celebrate what's good in society and culture.
Morning
Devotions
is a five-minute daily reflection for anyone curious about faith, or looking
for encouragement in their walk with God. In his warm and friendly style,
presenter Chris Witts — a well-loved Salvation Army minister — shares
bite-sized messages applying faith to everyday life.
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