Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Mid-Week Message - God Is Not Surprised

"If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything."  1 John 3:20 (NIV)

It was my privilege to spend a lot of time at my daughter's school throughout her education,  first as a volunteer then as an employee. It allowed me to take part in so many more activities with her than I would have been able to otherwise.  During the class Christmas party in her second grade year, the children were all sitting in the floor watching a movie with the lights off.  I had stayed in the room with them while the teacher stepped across the hallway.  A question arose that I needed to verify with her so I went to speak with her momentarily.  While walking back to my chair, one of the children moved her foot as I was stepping over it and I tripped.  I tried hard to catch myself but I fell and when I hit the floor, my left knee fell upon a small body.  Because of my excess weight, my only thought at the moment was, "I'm killing someone's baby!"   That part of the fall seemed to take hours, however, as I recovered and sat up I started asking who I had fallen on, truly terrified that I had severely injured one of these precious ones.  I soon heard, "Me, Mrs. Johns!  You fell on me. I'm okay!"  A little girl named Jennifer stood before me and I begged her forgiveness.  My tears were spilling out and she actually tried to console me.  She did seem to be just fine except for a slight rug burn on the side of her face.  Not long after the fall, Jennifer's mother arrived and I met her at the door, still in tears, told her what had happened, begged her forgiveness as well and asked her to take her daughter to a doctor to make sure she wasn't injured, assuring her that I would pay for the exam.  
Because I was so terribly upset, one of the teachers walked me upstairs to the school office where I was met by one of the high school teachers.  She took me into her office and said this to me, "What happened today was a surprise to you but it wasn't a surprise to God."  She urged to me to rest in that knowledge and to trust that He already had worked the situation out completely.  
So much in life takes us by surprise.   Some of these happenings or circumstances are pleasant, many are not.  We do not know what the next hour holds, let alone tomorrow.  However, we know the One that is never surprised because He has all knowledge and all wisdom.  If we follow Him closely, nothing will be able to shake us beyond what we can handle with His help.  As the song says, "Many things about tomorrow, I don't seem to understand.  But I know who holds tomorrow, and I know who holds my hand. "  God bless you.

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