Never Surprised

I think it was my 6th birthday. I desperately wanted an Easy Bake Oven. My parents later told me that they wanted to get it for me, but unbeknownst to me, we did not have much money at the time especially for a gift like that. As I invited my friends to my party in the park, I told them they could buy me accessories for the Easy Bake Oven I was getting. O the faith of little children! At the party, my parents were surprised as I opened gift after gift of Easy Bake Oven pots, pans and mixes. How did the kids know to get me those gifts when my parents hadn’t known if they could buy me the oven? God provided a used one that my Mom found last minute. I wasn’t surprised, but my parents sure were as well as being thankful for God’s provision.

Last week a surprise came our way. I’m sure you’ve had a few surprises in your life too. Sometimes they are good. Sometimes they are bad. Some people love surprises. Others don’t. They like to be prepared. For others, it depends on the type of the surprise.

When the surprise came last week, I immediately began to plan, trying to get control of the situation which can be difficult when you don’t have all the details. I was feeling overwhelmed. I hadn’t had my hot chocolate yet, so I decided to make my hot chocolate (which is always soothing even in the summer) and spend time reading and praying. All the passages I read from my daily reading talked about faith and God’s faithfulness. God’s amazing peace settled in my heart as I remembered that God is never surprised even when we are.

I started thinking of various examples of people taken by surprise in Scripture. There are several, but Job is the one that stuck out to me. Life was good for Job. God has blessed him with many material things. Then out of the blue, all of Job’s children were killed, and Job lost all his livestock and livelihood. Job’s response? “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Next Job got loathsome sores from his toes to the top of his head. Job’s response? “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?”

Job was completely taken by surprise, but God was not. We have the benefit of seeing the narrative between Satan and God before God allowed Satan to strike Job each time. But God wasn’t surprised because of those conversations. He wasn’t surprised because He is omniscient – He knows everything, He has foreknowledge of all things, and He purposes all things (Psalm 139:1-6, 16).

Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;

His understanding is beyond measure.

Psalm 147:5

Psalm 147:5 was one of the verses I looked at relating to God’s omniscience. God’s understanding, His knowledge cannot be measured. He knows all things perfectly. I want to zoom out to the whole Psalm as I saw some connections to Job’s story that will help us in how we respond rightly to surprises, particularly the bad ones. In fact, verses 16-18 echo passages in Job (Job 37:6, 9, 10, 12; 38:29). If you have a few minutes, read Psalm 147, and write down the “God is” truths.

Do you remember what Job said after his children were killed and he lost all his livestock? “Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Psalm 147 begins with, “Praise the Lord!” In each of the three strophes (sections), the Psalmist begins with praise or singing to God (vs 1, 7 and 12).

This Psalm is thought to have been written after Judah was exiled to Babylon for their idolatry and disobedience. They have now returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls (book of Nehemiah) and the temple (book of Ezra) (vs 2). I’m guessing you have never been exiled. Neither have I. The Psalmist describes the Jewish exiles as outcasts of Israel and the brokenhearted who are wounded. They were warned through prophecy of what would happen, but I’m guessing many were still surprised when it happened. If they had really believed the prophecies, they would’ve repented. Instead, they endured seventy years of exile, cut off from their land, their homes and their place of worship, the temple.

Upon their return, the Psalmist calls the Israelites to praise God. Yes, they were outcasts. Yes, they were brokenhearted. Yes, they had been wounded, but that was not the end of the story. When we are surprised by life’s circumstances, we too need to remember that the surprise is not the end of the story. God hasn’t stopped working because we are surprised. His good plan to conform us to Jesus’ image has not been thwarted. We can praise God because He is still the same sovereign, omniscient, omnipotent, faithful God.

Psalm 147 gives us several reasons for praising God.

1. God restores or redeems (vs 2-3). God was faithful to His Word in bringing the remnant of Judah back to Jerusalem. God is still faithful. He will do what He has promised. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Although your circumstance didn’t take God by surprise, He still draws near to you in your hurt and cares for you.

2. God cares for His creation (vs 4-6). God knows the name of every star and how many stars there are. God has intimate knowledge of His creation. He has intimate knowledge of you. He knows every hair on your head (Luke 12:7). Verse 5 tells us that God is great, abundant in power and omniscient. There is nothing that can hinder God’s care for you because He has all power to carry out His will and He has all knowledge and understanding of you and your circumstance. Verse 6 encourages us that “the Lord lifts up the humble.” God does not leave your care to someone else. He Himself lifts you up.

3. God provides for His creation (vs 8-9). There is a progression in these verses. God provides the clouds which bring rain which causes the vegetation to grow. God is the One who gives the food to animals and specifically the young ravens that cry. Again, if God provides for His creation with such care, He will also provide for you (Matthew 6:25-34).

4. God delights and takes pleasure in those who fear Him and hope in His steadfast love (vs 10-11). What an amazing truth! God delights in you, one who is made in His image. Notice in verse 10 that His delight is not in the “legs of a man” or your own strength, ability or what you can offer God. His delight is in you, His brokenhearted, wounded, weak child.

5. God’s Word governs and guides (vs 15-20). The Psalmist uses illustrations of God’s power over nature in verses 15-18. I love the description in verse 17, “He hurls down His crystals of ice like crumbs.” God is sovereign over all of creation. When the Psalmist wrote, God gave His Word, statutes, and rules only to Israel. We are blessed now to have His entire revealed Word. Peter explains that God’s Word is all we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).

No wonder the Psalmist ends as he began with “Praise the Lord!”

Reflections

1. How do you respond to surprises?

2. What about God never being surprised encourages you?

3. Looking back on a time you were surprised by a circumstance, which of the above five points could you now praise God for in relation to that surprise?