The Surprise ..

Have you ever been surprised by how long it is sometimes possible to go without having any spiritual thoughts at all.  Have you ever had one of those days when you wake up with a list of things to do a mile long and your minds going a mile a minute with all the duties of the day right out of the gate.  Have you ever gone all day, or maybe all morning without thinking of anything spiritual, without thinking about God, without praying?  For most of us, I imagine, our relationship with God is pretty forefront in our minds most of the time.  Many of us even waking early with the express purpose of seeking Him.  But sometimes, (I hope I’m not the only one) sometimes I catch myself part way through my day remembering “hey, I’m not the only one who exists in my small universe, hello God, uh sorry for not thinking of you sooner”. Or maybe I put in my morning Devo time and totally forget I’m a follower of Jesus until part way through the afternoon or maybe until grace at lunch time, “uh, hi God, how are ya.  I forgot you were standing there”.  Sometimes on those days I’m surprised at my apparent lack of spirituality,

But today, God surprised me.

Me and Isaac spent a couple of hours at the prayer room this morning and it was a really rich time of fellowship and intimacy with the Lord, then we went back to the MH and Shayne and Carsyn took off to the prayer room.  In the hours that followed I home schooled with the kids, took the puppies out to potty, studied my new book “Humility” by Andrew Murray, and made lunch.  But, right before I was about to make lunch we heard...

A knock at the MH door.

Gods surprise had arrived.  I opened the door to find a middle-aged women standing there with a case of juice boxes.  “Do you guys need some juice boxes” she asked me.  I was just beginning to wonder if juice boxes were a need when Judah yelled “Ya we do”.  So the lady handed me over the juice boxes, and then she reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of what I instantly knew was money. (pause)

You know that moment, when you realize someone is going to give you some money.  You see the bills but you can’t tell how much.  Your heart jumps, your mind races. ‘Maybe its enough to do a tune-up on the van, maybe its enough for that new baseball cap I saw at the mall last week, maybe its enough to fly the puppies we’ve sold back to Canada, maybe its enough to take an all expenses paid vacation to Disneyland, and maybe they’ll be enough for a coffee and some cigars left over afterwards’  (un-pause)

The lady handed me 15$.  (pause)

‘15 bucks, thats it.  I mean, 15 bucks thats awesome, thanks God.  I repent of my un-thank-fullness of heart.  15$ is great.  Um, and I also repent of all that materialistic coveting I was doing a minute ago.  You know of course if it was a large sum of money, I would of spent it all advancing your kingdom and blessing others and not on myself.  I repent for that moment of ungratefulness, please don’t hit me with lightning’ (un-pause)

“Thank-You so much” I said “your being here today and giving us these gifts is an answer to our prayers.  This is such a blessing for us today.  We are on a 1 year journey of faith and we are traveling all around North America trusting God to look after us, so, thank you so much”.  She smiled kindly at me, and turning to leave said “I’m glad I could bless you, I wish I could do more but...” and her words hung in the air for a moment before I responded “This is amazing.  Thank you so much.  You are an answer to our prayers today”.  She smiled as she walked to her vehicle and drove away.

Jesus, Thank You for providing for us today.  Thank You for proving over and over that you are a God that is Faithful and can be trusted.  Thank You for the privilege of being able to be a part of something so wonderful as this Journey of Faith.  

You would think that trusting God for everything, everyday, would be something that would be front and foremost in our minds all the time.  And I confess that sometimes it is, but today it wasn’t.  Today God said “Surprise”, and we were able to humbly bow our lives before Him, thankful to serve such an amazing Saviour.

Thanks for Journeying with us,

The Schafers