Surprises From God

O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all of your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them. - Psalm 40:5

Just three days after my 22nd birthday, I got out of my car and walked up to my grandparents’ front door. We were going out to celebrate that night and had to decided to all meet at their house first so we could carpool. However, I was running late. I had been at the mall with my brother and some friends all day, and between the last minute purchases and the north Atlanta traffic, I was a bit frazzled as I walked through the door apologizing for my tardiness.

But before my grandmother could even respond to my explanation of the afternoon, I was greeted by the sound of “SURPRISE” coming from about 30 of my closest friends and family members. Turns out, my best friend Melanie had orchestrated a surprise party, and I was shocked! My jaw was on the floor as I started asking what was going on, to which my mom replied, “Your sweet friend over there,” and pointed to Melanie. 

I walked over and gave her the biggest hug, so excited about what was happening. She had thought of everything! There were games to be played, my favorite foods and desserts to be enjoyed, and she even put together a montage video of a bunch of people wishing me happy birthday. Because Melanie knew me so well, she knew exactly what to do in order to make this a birthday I would never forget, and she succeeded with flying colors.

Now, imagine that someone who loves you, knows you super well, and is an excellent planner put together an amazing day for your birthday - your favorite meals, your favorite activities, your favorite people, etc. They planned the absolute perfect birthday for you. Wouldn’t you be excited? And wouldn’t you trust that person because of how well they know you and how much they love you? Of course you would!

So then let me ask you this: Why do you doubt God when He loves you more than anyone, He knows you better than anyone else, and He has plans more perfect and custom fit for you than anything anyone else could ever put together? 

It’s a tough question to swallow, but it’s one I believe we should all take into consideration. God is the most loving, caring, attentive, and trustworthy being in our lives. He knows what we want and what we need better than we do. So why do we have such a hard time trusting Him and His plans? Why do we assume the worst is going to happen instead of hopefully expecting God to give us His best and surprise us with abundantly more than we could ever ask or imagine?

My prayer is that, moving forward, you would have a posture of excitement and expectancy for what God has in store for you. I hope that you will trust Him and His plans, whatever they may be. And I pray that you live a life fully surrendered to Him, so that you can enjoy all of the surprises He has prepared for you.