Expect the Unexpected

The day starts out as usual. Your alarm goes off, or the sunlight peeks in your window, waking you for another day. Maybe it’s a child who rouses you for yet another day in a string of other similar days. Breakfast is uneventful; the children are arguing over whose turn it is to take the dog out. The agenda for the day includes grocery shopping, sending out the mail, paying some bills and scrubbing the muddy church shoes that a child was not supposed to be wearing out back.

Everything is going as it should when the phone dings at 11:07 a.m. Picking up the phone, there is a text that reads “call me, we need to talk.” A phone call to the sender reveals news that knocks the wind out of you.

Or perhaps there wasn’t a text. Instead, you are on the phone talking while the person on the other end is driving. Mid sentence, you hear this strange noise followed by muffled words on the other end. Then static occurs as you try to figure out what happened to the person on the other end. Were you disconnected? “I’m OK! There was an accident, gotta go!” then the call is hung up. You stare at your disconnected phone. 8:36 pm.

Maybe it was neither of those. Perhaps a child suddenly needs rushed to the ER for stitches, or there is a knock at the door to deliver bad news. Groceries will have to wait.

Most subtle of all, could be a circumstance or situation that occurs in your day that might seem “normal” to a person looking in. But for someone who has suffered a traumatic experience, everyday occurrences can wreak havoc on the mind and body the same as “typical” bad news.

No matter what it is that has disrupted your day, it was disruptive because it was unexpected. Nobody expects bad things to happen. We know emergencies happen. We know that calls, texts and knocks delivering less than desirable news can happen. But they would not be emergencies nor would these things shake us to our core if it was expected.

It just does not happen to you. These things happen to other people. So when it inevitably does happen to you, the world stops. Air becomes heavy: your lungs are convinced that another breath can’t possibly be good for you. You wage a war against your brain that has decided now is a good time to shut off. There is no clear direction on how to proceed with your day from here.

Moments like these are when peace seems the most elusive. We wonder how this could be happening. Why is it happening? Why now? Why you?

When we think of the word “peace” we picture a tranquil setting that has no disruptions present: a calm breeze, birds softly chirping or tea steeping on the counter. We think of a world that goes round in wonderful harmony without any difficulties or stresses.

Peace, however, exists much differently than that imagined state.

One of my favorite analogies is that found in the midst of a storm. In another life, perhaps I would have been a storm chaser! Call me crazy, but I absolutely love the winds whipping about me, blowing my hair straight back and taking a bit of my breath away. The grayish color that encompasses everything, the clouds rolling at a quick pace, rain pelting thru the leaves- these are just a few things that really captivate my attention.

To some, a storm is chaotic and stressful, especially in something as severe as a tornado or a hurricane. Although there is a lot going on, there is one place where it is calm- peaceful even. Right in the middle is the eye of the storm. This is where the wind is not blowing as strongly, the sky might be blue and the sun could be shining.

For me, however, I see more than a storm. I see a wondrous creation in motion. I know that my God controls the winds and waters. If it pleases Him to send something as unusual and magnificent as a gray, cloud filled day that waters the earth below and bends trees at will- then I am all for watching the spectacle and standing in awe of this great power before me.

Am I aware that my house *could* be toppled on its side? Am I aware that a tree could fall on my roof or flatten my car? Sure! I have a healthy respect for the destructive ability, should God so choose to send things crashing my direction. We have a safety plan for tornado warnings and such. But just because my family has an action plan, this does not mean I cower in fear the moment a tiny gray cloud dots the sky above me. It may seem out of place in the otherwise blue sky, something that gives a hint of the storm to come. I do not hide my children away the moment we get a tornado watch. Instead, I gather them close and we take the opportunity to learn about what is going on. Should the weather take a turn for the worse, we utilize our action plan within mere seconds. All the while, I remain calm and explain what is going on. They get to hear how God is in control of the winds and water.

Just as God is in control of the winds and water of a storm, He is in control of our circumstances. There have been times where I have woken in the middle of the night to a storm that I did not know would be happening. But God knew.

There is a lady I know of, a Pastor’s wife. She and her children were sound asleep. Something woke her, she didn’t recall exactly what. But she woke to hear it raining out. The wind seemed unusually loud as well. She then heard one of her older children, an older teen, calling for her. There were loud sounds everywhere, winds whipping about and rain pelting. She took a few steps as she heard one of her children hollering after her. As she took another step, she stepped right out of her house! Where there should have been floor, there was nothing!

It was dark and she was not quite with it, so she was trusting her memory of the layout of her house to get her where she needed to go. Her children had woken just before her and were on the way to her as she had woken and crawled from her bed. Her oldest had seen it just before she stepped out… part of their house was missing! This family slept thru and escaped a tornado by God’s protection. Even more miraculous was the continued damage that occurred once they left the house. They left uninjured because they had all woken in time to leave when they did. God gave them the peace to sleep and rest until it was time to move. Then God stepped in and allowed them to all wake up and remove themselves to safety at just the right moment!

God provided a calm within that storm. She had such a peace and calm about her, that she slept right thru her house being torn apart! And upon waking, she was not distressed or worried. Rather she was thankful to have woken when she did and that she and her children were all safe. What about her husband, the Pastor? He was on the road preaching elsewhere!

Just think… what if he had been home and declined going? What if she had not had a faith and let him go? What if she stayed up all night worrying about the storm to come? Or about her husband being gone? What if… what if… what if…

It all comes down to leaning on the One Who controls it all. When we are able to trust and follow in God’s leading, we can come thru so much more than we can on our own. Including those unexpected things. God can and will give us a calm that is inexplicable. He knows what we are about to go thru. He knows what we are going thru. He wants us to be able to find the eye of the storm, where He is waiting for us.

It may be difficult to swallow something that is seemingly unexpected. But God is not ever caught off guard. He has a plan for everything that happens. Losing a house certainly was not on the to do list for that Pastor’s schedule. But God knew and kept them all safe. In doing so, He showed how great His power is to any who heard the story of a lady and her kids sleeping through, and surviving, a tornado ripping apart their house. I have no idea what else may have come from that circumstance. But if it was only to show how great His power, then that itself was enough!

We may not be able to expect, or foresee, all things. But we know the One Who does. We can expect Him to foresee everything for us, and therefore take care of us when something knocks us off our feet and the wind leaves our lungs for a moment too long.

Knowing God controls it all, we can expect the unexpected. In turn, it isn’t truly unexpected. Rather, it just was not a part of our personal plan. God just doesn’t clue us in on all the things He has for us until it happens. Then, when the world crumbles around us, we can turn to Him and ask Him for help in how to proceed. Because, after all, it is a part of His plan. So He will be able to direct us through. This is how He helps us draw closer to Him and to grow. Just as we ask our children to trust us when we ask them to just go along with what we have planned for them.

One of my favorite things to do now when something unexpected happens is say “Plot twist!” then I stop and ask “Lord, now what? I am unsure of how this next chapter is supposed to go? Help me get the next few pages written until I can land back on my feet and walk straight again.”

And you know what? It always works! And the more I do it, the easier it is to lean on Him. The quicker I am to search for Him when something happens, no matter how big or how small. It’s almost become a hobby now that I wonder when the next unexpected thing might happen and what it could be! Life is an adventure: a wondrous creation in motion. I know that my God controls my life. If it pleases Him to send something as unusual and magnificent as an “unexpected” circumstance that has the ability to show others Who He is, then I am all for watching the spectacle and standing in awe of this great power before me.

“…the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.” ~Nahum1: 3b KJV

“My soul, wait thou only upon God; For my expectation is from him.” ~Psalm 62: 5 KJV