Celebrating the Unexpected

Thursday, June 15, 2023

The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised.  She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age.  This happened at just the time God had said it would.  And Abraham named their son Isaac.  Eight days after Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised him as God had commanded.  Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born.  And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter.  All who hear about this will laugh with me.  Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse a baby?  Yet I have given Abraham a son in his old age!”  Genesis 21:1-7

Two poignant facts emerge from the image of a 90-year-old woman nursing her newborn son:

1.    What a miracle she has experienced, which has brought overwhelming joy where there only existed emptiness and resignation!

2.    Can she possibly have the energy to last through the terrible twos?

I might (with all respect) add a third thought about the father…he’s gonna be 120-years-old when that kid starts college.  Our last child was born when I was 31, and it made me wonder if I’d have the strength.

We could call this the unexpected event of a millennium, but all Sarah could think of was the joy of that moment…she had to celebrate this unexpected gift from God.  And that is entirely spot-on when you suddenly realize you’re standing on holy ground, holding God’s promise in your arms.  It sounded too-good-to-be-true, but it was thoroughly a God-thing.  Sarah had laughed at the idea when she was eavesdropping outside Abraham’s tent as the Lord told him what to name the son (Isaac) his wife would bear next year.  That was the skeptic’s unbelief; now it was the laughter of the redeemed!

There are many things about a walk with Jesus that fall into this category of  unexpected joy, which dumbfound us, and at the same time, bring overwhelming joy and faith.  Every week during worship, as we approach corporate prayer time, my heart breaks a little as the requests for prayer-support reveal care and concern.   But interspersed with those are also prayers of thanksgiving as people celebrate the unexpected answers that came to impossible situations, some undoubetedly miraculous, most a simple sense of thankful awareness that God has graciously met a need.

I have always found the timing of God impeccable, able to both unnerve me by revealing how tiny my faith is, and at the same time bring a healing balm to that shaky faith.  His ways are immeasurably above my thinking. 

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.  Isaiah 55:9

As Father’s Day approaches I’m reminded of my Dad, and the many kindnesses of what he taught me, both with words, and the way he lived a life of being useful and caring.  I’m also reminded of my journey as a father – never perfect in knowing what to do, but always trying to learn how to do better.  And being so very blessed to see and celebrate God’s unexpected gifts blessing our family.  

For You Today 

Once Sarah’s laughter was almost a mockery of God’s promise; in the end it was the celebration of the unexpected gift of promise-fulfilled.  This should give us all hope that, having a second chance, even in the face of our defeats and wrong choices is (and always has been) God’s plan.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:   Lenten Walk - Part 8  and  Flamingled  and  Why There Should be Seatbelts on Dentist's Chairs                                        

 

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Made Right

Friday, March 3, 2023

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.  And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.  For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight.  He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.  For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin.  People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.  This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time.  God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.  Romans 3:22-26

In many dramas you will hear a character resolutely say:  I’m going to make things right.  He or she lied, or stole something, or in some way offended another person.  The statement is the desire to undo the wrong…to make it right again!  This is the essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the making right of all the wrong that’s ever been done, via the cross. 

I am aware that there are still five weeks left until Good Friday, but that is part of Lent…looking ahead to the Good News of forgiveness, being made right with God.  And making things right begins and ends with God’s love.  Paul’s letter to the believers in Rome puts a bow on this concept.  He explains the cross and God’s heart in nine sentences, 158 words…modern preachers could learn that lesson.  Ouch!

It's amazing to entertain that God’s longsuffering put-up with sins in ancient times, looking forward to the forgiveness He would make possible on the cross.  That should alert us to how gracious God is, because that means he was also looking forward to our days in the 21^st century.   He knew we would need forgiveness to be made right with Him.  In fact, you were on God’s mind before Day #1 of creation.

Some years the anticipation of Lent just about overwhelms me.  I want to rush to Good Friday, get the suffering, pain, and blood in the past, and sit, vigil-like by the empty tomb until the Easter dawn, so I can shout with the angels.  But with these thoughts of God’s forgiveness worked-out for time past, present, and future, there is a calmness to my joy, knowing that I have been made right with He who knows me best, and loves me most.

For You Today 

There is, and has been, only one caveat to being made right with God, and that is the leap of faith to believe Jesus died so you could be forgiven; he took the punishment for your sins.  Paul said it clearly in his letter to the Roman believers:

God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.   Romans 3:26

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

            Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

Blush  and  Lenten Walk - Part 6      

Title Image:  Pixabay.com   Images without citation are personal property of the author, or in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Phinnie's Thank You

 

Friday, July 1, 2022

Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia.  They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor.  But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity.  For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more.  And they did it of their own free will.  They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem.  They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.  2 Corinthians 8:1-5

When our youngest was in the third grade I accompanied her class on a field trip to a petting zoo as one of the parent-chaperones.  When it was almost time to walk back to the buses and go home, we got caught in an April shower that would have made Noah’s top-ten deluge list!  We all got drenched, and there was mud everywhere…everywhere!

About a week later I got a thank you note from Phinnie, one of our daughter’s classmates.  It read:

In Acts 23 Paul was hauled before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council.  He wasn’t treated very well.  He was insulted; the ruling elder slapped him in the face.  Immediately Paul and the council were embroiled in a debate that could have resulted in imprisonment or death for the apostle.  It was going to be a long, muddy day!  

For You Today

You may have to trudge through a long muddy day today (or a month or year). 

The reason God has you where he has you isn’t always clear.  Sometimes that will be revealed in a note from a third-grader next month….or at the throne when you get home. 

So, whenever the going gets muddy, keep trudging, but enjoy the ride, and give thanks, even for a muddy trudge.  It’s all part of giving you to God…before you do anything else.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,000 devotional posts on Rocky Road Devotions.  

To dig deeper into this topic or Scripture text:  Before You Give and More?

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©