Thursday, February 17, 2011 - Expect the Unexpected

     So far in my substitute teaching journey I've shared twice in the joy of having just settled children in to work when the fire alarm sounded to disrupt everything and send us into the cold for a few minutes. When we returned to the classroom I had to re-calm excited children, recalculate the time remaining and re-evaluate which assignments most needed to be completed.  Praise God, these were planned drills instead of real emergencies. 

     Routines and plans provide the framework of our activities and schedules. They're important to our healing process after or even during an emergency. They're necessary components for producing results but we don't want to mistake them for our security. When routine lulls you into a numbness of going through the motions of living rather than the joy of living, prepare to hear a buzzer. God knows we come "alive" when we have to think in a new way. For example, after Jesus' died and was buried, the women who came to the tomb went back to thinking in routine ways about how to care for Jesus' body. When they arrived to carry out their plan, the buzzer went off, the thunder rolled and angels spoke.

"He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. 

Come and see the place where He lay." 

Matthew 28:6

     Of course, those people whose emergencies have become routine crave and need "normalcy." For them, God provides a recharging retreat away from the drain of too much excitement. After the spiritual battle on Mt. Carmel where God used Elijah the prophet to draw fire from heaven, God revealed Himself to the exhausted Elijah by ringing a dinner bell. Elijah had seen God open heaven in violently visual ways, yet when the "emergency" was over God provided a normal, nourishing meal for His servant (even if the delivery boy was dressed a little strangely). 

"Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. 

 All at once an angel touched him and said, 'Get up and eat.'"

1 Kings 19:5

     As God's new creations who are still under construction, we can trust God to know whether we need a buzzer or a dinner bell. If you're dozing in your rut, beware! His Hand hovers over the buzzer. If, however, you're exhausted from one emergency after another, take heart - He's turning down the covers and has prepared a tray just for you. Expect the unexpected.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; 

the old has gone, the new has come!" 

2 Corinthians 5:17

Father, You know what we need to keep us close to You. Help us trust You and accept willingly and respond gratefully to either the buzzer or the dinner bell You've planned for us today. Anything You allow in our lives can be used to live up to the new creations You've designed us to be. Fill us. Open our eyes to see You in our routines and in our emergencies and use us to help others face theirs as well. 

Inspired by My Utmost for His Highest and Jesus Calling