Imagine my surprise!

     I don't win the lottery even when I buy a ticket.  Raffles don't seem to come to my number or name.  I'm usually one call too early or one call too late on the radio give-a-ways.  Imagine my surprise when something actually comes my way!  Okay, that doesn't seem to have happened lately as far as the above are concerned.  The Christian who plays the lottery is focusing on what they want and the same applies to raffles and call in's.  We all want to win!  There are some who are pious to the point where they downplay the possibility of having something for little or nothing.  Yet, in their core human being they too want to have something given to them.  Christians have a perspective of not what they have but what they have not.  We don't have enough of this, we don't have enough of that, we want more of what we have and then squander everything on ourselves.  Imagine my surprise when something comes my way when I am not requesting it!  The Bible clearly states that God has given us (present tense and future tense) all of our needs.  So, why do we chase the "big win"?  If God has poured out the blessings from heaven so much so that we cannot contain them, why do we want that second BBQ?  We want what we want and seldom really appreciate all the needs we have that are mysteriously taken care of by a God who counts the hairs on our heads...for you who have hair.  For those who don't have hair, he counted them when you were born and that hasn't changed.
     My memory is very clear regarding my firstborn, Jeremy.  My wife and I were in Germany and were about to get out of the military and go home.  It was about 2 months away when I got the announcement:  "I missed my period."  Imagine my surprise.  Here I was newly married, in a foreign country, wife is pregnant, getting out of the military and no job waiting for me at home.  The surprise of a new life compared to the surprise of "how am I going to do this?" left me questioning what was going on in my life.  Surprises can be positive and negative.  I prefer positive but God also intends us to see his will in the negative surprises as well.  The more we are challenged with, the greater we have our faith challenged.  It's much easier just to give the situations to God and then wait to be surprised.  When Jeremy was born 9 months later we were blessed beyond belief!  It's been that way for all of my children.  Along the same line of thought is a negative that also turned into a positive.  Both were surprises to me.  The story I'm about to tell you is true and there will be no names given.  I had an affair while married to my second wife.  The woman became pregnant after we had been together for some time.  She asked me if I wanted us to abort the baby.  I said no.  Soon thereafter I stopped the affair, confessed my sin to my wife and God, and began the road back to Christian living.  I wouldn't see my daughter for 5 years.  She is beautiful!  There is much pride in who she is for me.  The action on my part that so devastated so many people and relationships was instrumental in bringing into this world a wonderful girl who is now 16.  The surprise that was the greatest was the grace of God on everyone.  We all survived. 
     My life has always involved hard physical labor whether that was in my job or around the places where I have lived.  I grew up working hard on a large farm/ranch in the Midwest.  I believed that was the only to live.  When I was 61 I moved to where I currently live.  We had several large trees taken down and I proceeded to carry, move, roll and throw wood for firewood.  On a particular day in February last year (2015) I had moved about 6 cords worth of fir and maple rounds that weighed 200-350 pounds each.  Feeling tired I stopped and went into the house to take a shower and relax.  Upon doing so I felt ill.  One thing led to another and I realized that I was in the beginning of having a heart attack.  I called 911 and the paramedics and fire department were there within minutes (largely because they are 2 miles away).  They took excellent care of me, took me to the hospital and long story short, I lived!  Okay, that was obvious.  The surprise was that one of the best cardiologists was in the ER when I arrived and I was very well taken care of.  Surgery was a few days later and today I can once again move the wood, work in the garden and interact with many.  I have much to be thankful.  In turn I returned a few months after the heart attack to the fire department where I met with the people who saved my life.  They were surprised because they had not had anyone ever come in to thank them for what they do.  Imagine my surprise!  I know that surprises are positive and negative.  God blesses us with both for our sake and his.  Imagine that!