Surprises (Don't You Love Them?)

Opening a gift can be an exciting time. What comes after can be anything from amazing to downright terrifying.

Thank God for gift receipts.

While nobody is obligated to keep a particular gift, there is still that initial moment of opening it. Everybody is watching you to see how you react, and most likely this small crowd includes the person who got you the gift in the first place! You open it, and behold, a pink bunny suit. Don't get that reference. Stop reading. Go watch A Christmas Story. Have your life changed. Come back and pick up where you left off. Good job.

What was I writing about? Oh, yeah...

There's several different ways you can respond to this situation. You can freak out and rip it to shreds, pass out in embarrassment, lie and say you like it...or, you can try and see the positive. Maybe Aunt Ruth went to the store and saw that there was a special sale on pink bunny suits. Does this change the fact that you are currently mortified beyond all reason? No. Does affect whether or not your aunt will ever speak to you again? Yes.

Surprises are not always positive. Sometimes, we're expecting a new bicycle and receive a pink bunny suit. We need to decide how we will respond to these surprises. Let's say you lose your job. Will you sit around complaining about how you don't have a job, or will you get up, brush yourself off and look for a new one? Will you sit around and mope about your pink bunny suit, or will accept that you received one and try to move forward? With the help of God, we can make an effort to change the bad circumstances we end up in. The question is, do we see it that way? The truth is, God knows exactly why something happened to you, and He knows a way out of it. Maybe it's freedom from grief or stress. Maybe it's regaining something you lost. Maybe it's getting your family in a position that's healthy for them. God knows all our surprises! He saw the gifts as they were being wrapped! Let me encourage you, the reader, to not allow yourself to be struck down by surprises. Allow them to be opportunities to discipline yourself, and ultimately bring you closer to God.

Don't mope over your pink bunny suit!

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28

Colin