April 3, 2001
A local bookstore hosted two evenings of poetry readings. While looking for a parking space, I breathed a prayer. How nice it would be to see an old friend, someone I had not seen for a long time and who would jump up, run over and give me a hug.
Why that prayer? I’m not sure. Even as it came to me, it seemed odd. I was seeing friends who would read their work and could not imagine anyone else who might be there, let alone someone who fit my request.
As I walked into the store, someone jumped to her feet, ran up to me and gave me a hug. It was my best friend from Bible college ten years ago. I was overcome and amazed. My request had not only been granted but the answer was put in place before I even prayed it.
This surprise prayer/answer combination happens now and then. One Sunday morning on the way to the church, I prayed that a new couple would start attending and gave specific criteria for this couple. At the church a few minutes later, two people fitting my description arrived at the door and spent the first of many Sundays with us.
In that case also, I wondered about my prayer. Where did the idea come from? At the bookstore, I had not thought about old friends or even that I needed to see one. I did not expect anyone to travel some distance to be there either. Was my prayer intuitive? Did I know what would happen rather than ask God to make something happen?
At the church, new faces were not on my mind. Did the idea come from my unconscious mind or some unknown desire? Where did the specifics fit in? How did I know to pray them?
However these thoughts emerged, they did. And as soon as they did, they were sent up to God as a prayer. In retrospect, both left me wondering if they had came down from God too. That is, did God reveal these two events to me just before they happened? If so, why? Did He want me to understand His power? His ability to reveal His will?
Who would turn down insight into the will of God? Not many. His moral will is easy to find — the Bible is clear about those issues — but what about the future? The Bible reveals only a general plan (which can be best summed up by ‘Jesus wins’) but the specifics are a mystery. As God’s people pray, we might get a glimpse of His plan but only a glimpse, and for reasons unknown, we are always surprised when these glimpses become reality.
For instance, chapter twelve in Acts describes how the Apostle Peter was jailed for preaching the Gospel. The church was in distress. One of their number had already lost his life for the same thing. Would Peter be next? They gathered to pray for him.
In the meantime, Peter was miraculously released from prison by an angel. He went directly to the place they were praying and knocked at the door. The girl who answered was so overjoyed she ran to tell the others without opening the door. All were astonished.
Think about this: they were praying to Almighty God who can do anything and who says He hears and answers our prayers. Why then were they surprised? Did they think their request was too difficult? Did I think my requests were too insignificant? Or unreasonable? I think they were amazed for the same reason I was amazed. God heard and set up the answer to their prayers before they even prayed them. That is astounding. Isaiah 65:24 says, “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.”
Lord, my requests are often like thoughts that I breathe, not like the earnest praying done by the early church for Peter. Yet You answer, even before they are uttered. You make us who pray realize that we are in partnership with You. What wonderful assurance to be encouraged by Your surprises. Thank You.
Showing posts with label surprised by God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label surprised by God. Show all posts
Monday, March 5, 2018
Monday, December 1, 2014
Unexpected Peace ................. Parables 203
(February 7, 1990)
It was 4 a.m. The telephone woke both parents instantly. The father answered, mother wide-awake beside him. It happened to quick for prayers. In fact neither of them remember even a Godward thought, yet before they found out the news wasn’t good, a strange thing happened inside their minds. They were instantly and completely filled with peace, a peace so incredible, it erased all the tension that comes when the phone rings in the night.
The call was from another parent. Their young daughter, best friend of this couple’s daughter, had invited her for a sleep-over. Both were missing. So was his vehicle. The caller’s voice was filled with fear. They were only 13. Neither of them could drive. Where would they go? They had no money. It seemed they had taken no extra clothing. He was in a state of panic. His wife could be heard crying in the background.
The recipients of this alarming news dressed hurriedly. They quickly drove the few blocks to the home of the other parents. They prayed with them first, then calmly began making plans to search the area. Both were concerned but serene. That serenity still didn’t make sense, not even to them, never mind to the parents of the other girl. Why would anyone, given the situation, be so calm?
Jesus made an incredible promise to those who trust in Him, “Peace I give unto you, not as the world gives give I unto you...” The Apostle Paul called it “the peace that passes all understanding.”
This couple were new Christians. God was teaching them all about turning their fears over to Him, about trusting Him with all their heart and that He would give His peace to those who do so. They were learning to turn to Him in need and not rely on their own understanding. But this was something new. His peace was there, without even a thought of asking Him for it.
It makes no sense that such deep peace can be experienced in such a traumatic episode of life. We may want it, but the normal reaction is fear and anxiety. However, our God is greater than our normal reactions. The above situation gives evidence that His ways are far beyond even what we can understand. No psychologist can explain it. No philosopher can decipher peace where there ought to be a storm.
No matter how often we reach out to God, no matter how often He responds to our cries, He must take great delight in meeting needs that we don’t even know we have, or meeting them before they come into our awareness. What joy in discovering Him through a surprise. What grace in His supply of protection and assurance during those times we least expect it. He knows how to build our confidence in Him.
Surely God’s invitation to: “Call unto me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you know not,” earns far more response from that father and mother after such a sovereignly bestowed blessing. Without calling, their experience of a great and mighty peace revealed to them the grace and power of God. He could now say to them: “You have seen what I can do in this... trust Me in all things”
The rest of the story? God already knew it. The girls drove only a few blocks, parked the vehicle, locked it, and spent several hours, chilly and frightened, wondering what would happen to them when they returned home. They walked in before breakfast, feeling foolish but nonetheless wiser -- and safe.
To God belongs the glory -- not only for their safety, but when it was threatened, He granted a deep and unexpected peace.
It was 4 a.m. The telephone woke both parents instantly. The father answered, mother wide-awake beside him. It happened to quick for prayers. In fact neither of them remember even a Godward thought, yet before they found out the news wasn’t good, a strange thing happened inside their minds. They were instantly and completely filled with peace, a peace so incredible, it erased all the tension that comes when the phone rings in the night.
The call was from another parent. Their young daughter, best friend of this couple’s daughter, had invited her for a sleep-over. Both were missing. So was his vehicle. The caller’s voice was filled with fear. They were only 13. Neither of them could drive. Where would they go? They had no money. It seemed they had taken no extra clothing. He was in a state of panic. His wife could be heard crying in the background.
The recipients of this alarming news dressed hurriedly. They quickly drove the few blocks to the home of the other parents. They prayed with them first, then calmly began making plans to search the area. Both were concerned but serene. That serenity still didn’t make sense, not even to them, never mind to the parents of the other girl. Why would anyone, given the situation, be so calm?
Jesus made an incredible promise to those who trust in Him, “Peace I give unto you, not as the world gives give I unto you...” The Apostle Paul called it “the peace that passes all understanding.”
This couple were new Christians. God was teaching them all about turning their fears over to Him, about trusting Him with all their heart and that He would give His peace to those who do so. They were learning to turn to Him in need and not rely on their own understanding. But this was something new. His peace was there, without even a thought of asking Him for it.
It makes no sense that such deep peace can be experienced in such a traumatic episode of life. We may want it, but the normal reaction is fear and anxiety. However, our God is greater than our normal reactions. The above situation gives evidence that His ways are far beyond even what we can understand. No psychologist can explain it. No philosopher can decipher peace where there ought to be a storm.
No matter how often we reach out to God, no matter how often He responds to our cries, He must take great delight in meeting needs that we don’t even know we have, or meeting them before they come into our awareness. What joy in discovering Him through a surprise. What grace in His supply of protection and assurance during those times we least expect it. He knows how to build our confidence in Him.
Surely God’s invitation to: “Call unto me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you know not,” earns far more response from that father and mother after such a sovereignly bestowed blessing. Without calling, their experience of a great and mighty peace revealed to them the grace and power of God. He could now say to them: “You have seen what I can do in this... trust Me in all things”
The rest of the story? God already knew it. The girls drove only a few blocks, parked the vehicle, locked it, and spent several hours, chilly and frightened, wondering what would happen to them when they returned home. They walked in before breakfast, feeling foolish but nonetheless wiser -- and safe.
To God belongs the glory -- not only for their safety, but when it was threatened, He granted a deep and unexpected peace.
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