Surprise!

Have you ever been surprised by something? Maybe a party thrown in your honor? Maybe an unexpected gift? How about that all important day when you were asked to be married? Now of course these are all surprises with happy endings (at least I hope so). But what about those surprises where the ending isn’t so happy? Like a diagnosis at the doctor, an IRS audit, the termination of a job, or the end of a relationship.

This is also important when acknowledging that Jesus is truly and fully God. Throughout Jesus’ ministry on earth we see signs of His foreknowledge. We see it when he declares the sinful choices that Judas and Peter make in their lives. He rightly predicts that His words will be everlasting. He accomplishes his whole mission because He already knows the outcome – the salvation of souls.

So often in our lives we make plans and then down the road things happen that force us to change those plans. Think about this past year. Have you had to make any changes in your plans due to the corona virus? I sure have. We had one of the biggest Youth mission trips planned for this past summer, but things in the world changed and we had to make changes. And right now, we are not sure what the new year holds.

But there is one thing that will never change and that is the love that God has for each of us through Christ Jesus our Savior and Lord. Is God ever surprised by anything? No, He is not. God knows the future because He is the future, He knows it because he plans it and then He accomplishes it. In Jeremiah 1:12 the Lord said, “I am watching over my word to perform it” and God does not just predict; he does what he predicts.

So maybe God is never surprised by anything, but have you ever been surprised by God? To use the words that C. S. Lewis chose for the title of his own account of encountering Jesus – Surprised by Joy.

God is the God of surprises. Jesus constantly surprised his followers, and he wants to continue to surprise you and me. But God’s surprises are always for our good. God has surprised me in so many ways throughout my life, especially when he takes something difficult and turns it into something wonderful and faith-building. I am sure that if you look back at your life, you will find some great surprises He has brought into your life too. I pray that God will continue to surprise each of us even though it of course is no surprise to Him.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Pastor Scott
There are many things in life that can surprise us, but what about God? Can God ever be surprised by anything?

In Isaiah 41, God calls on the idols to give an account and challenges them to show or prove their godliness by predicting the future or declaring things that will come to be. It happens again in chapter 45 of Isaiah where God throws up another challenge of whether there is any other god besides Himself.

Knowing the future, even the future of human decisions, is part of what it means to be God. So, is God ever surprised by anything? No, He is not. To be surprised you must be uncertain about what is coming. God is never unaware about the future or about anything else. God is never uncertain about what is coming.

So how do we know this for sure? I will give you two reasons. One is that the Bible shows that knowing the future, even the future of human decisions, is part of what it means to be God. And the other is that the Bible shows that God’s foresight is not the knowledge of something different from his will and plan; he knows the future because he plans the future.

This is also important when acknowledging that Jesus is truly and fully God. Throughout Jesus’ ministry on earth we see signs of His foreknowledge. We see it when he declares the sinful choices that Judas and Peter make in their lives. He rightly