Light up the way of Your heart, move me like You do the mountains, move me like You do the wind…
Fix my eyes on the unexpected…
Shadow Step – United
As you sit and watch fireworks, you wait with much anticipation of what is to come. You have very few expectations of what is to come, except that there will be a grand finale at the end and it should be pretty grand. In Cedarville, where I went to college, we had some pretty grand fireworks on Labor Day every year thanks to the person who invented the holiday being born in the town.
As I was driving home from watching 4th of July fireworks, I was listening to the worship playlist on Spotify. Shadow Step by Hillsong came on as I was getting close to home, and I was struck by the idea of having our eyes fixed on the unexpected.
unexpected (adj.): unforeseen, surprising
God moves in unexpected ways all the time. As a follower of Christ, in order to share the love of Christ with others, we have to be willing to see what is unexpected in our eyes all the time. See, nothing is unexpected to the God of the universe – He knows it all. But in our limited understanding of everything that is happening around us, we can look forward to what is unexpected to us because it isn’t unexpected to God.
I am preparing to travel for 11 months, while living out of a backpack. As I travel, there will be many aspects of life that will be unexpected. God will work in unexpected ways, culture will be unexpectedly different, etc. Every time I travel to Haiti, I am reminded of how I should focus on the unexpected. Other cultures do not function the same way that we do in the States. Countries in many other parts of the world are much more relational and view time extremely differently than it is viewed in the States. When I’m in Haiti, God graciously reminds me of how to focus on the unexpected that is coming and how I can see His glory from this.
When we are willing to let go of our comfort zones and our expectations, we are more freely able to see what God is doing around us and fixed on the unexpected. If we are only willing to hang onto what is comfortable and what is normal, then that is expected.
Fix your eyes on the unexpected.
Don’t be afraid of the unexpected. Change is good. Stepping out of your comfort zone is good. Going into situations with no expectations so God can work is also good.
