Surprise!

Recently God has really been moving in my life. All of the sudden dreams are coming true that I’ve had for years! Things I had laid aside and thought would never happen. Things that I had accepted would never happen. They are happening. I can hardly believe that I’m seeing such a long term goal come to pass. In the midst of all of this, without telling the whole story, which would most assuredly be longer than my editor would appreciate, I am discovering all the wonderful details that went into making these events in my life happen.

I would almost describe it like walking into a surprise party. Let’s say your birthday was today. Nothing has been planned to your knowledge, but you know that you have friends who care about you and are aware of this special occasion. It crosses your mind that perhaps they could be planning a little get together, but then you dismiss it, because you don’t want to get your hopes up. You go about your business, and then you get a phone call from one of your friends asking if they could take you out to a nice birthday dinner. You are flattered, and agree to meet them. Maybe floating somewhere in the back of your mind is the notion that something more is coming, so you try to start putting pieces together to figure out what your friends have planned. The pieces aren’t quite making sense, because you have such limited information, and there is no way you could get a clear picture.

You go to meet your friend at the restaurant, and the moment you walk in, you see a room filled with your closest friends and family. They all yell “Surprise,” and you really are quite shocked. Maybe not at the idea that there was a party planned in your honor, but when you scan the room, you see the elaborate decorations, the homemade cake, the pile of presents, and you realize that someone must have been planning this shindig for weeks! Maybe even months! As you greet your friends, and they all revel in their ability to pull the wool over your eyes, you begin to hear little pieces of the puzzle that you didn’t have before. You start to see a picture of how it all came together, and you’re astonished at how you could have not noticed any of this going on. For weeks they’ve been playing you like a puppet, and you hadn’t a clue. Of course you’re elated at the effort of your friends and family to give something as time consuming as a party to you for your birthday, but you’re also slightly disturbed at how observant you really AREN’T.

I guess that’s how I’m been feeling lately. I’m astounded that over the past ten years of my life, God has been taking me directions, and crossing my paths with certain people, all for such a time as this. They all led me to this place. My experiences have equipped me for this place, but while I was in the process of gaining those experiences, I could have never seen that they would lead to this outcome. As hard as I’ve tried to figure out my life, and figure out God’s plan for my life, it ultimately was a waste of time, because I didn’t have all the information. I couldn’t possibly have put the pieces of my life’s puzzle together without looking at a completed picture of what it was supposed to be. God kept that picture from me for a reason. If I had known where I was going, I likely would have taken a much different route to get here, and it would have been MY way and not God’s. If I got there on my own merit, then the glory wouldn’t be His.

Just like the party, I realize that even though my friends had to keep information from me, they never intended to deceive me, but to lead me to something that was good for me. God may withhold the fullness of what He intends for my life, but it’s not because He’s being cruel, or He enjoys seeing me wander aimlessly, but it’s because he knows the it makes me trust Him and lean on Him. If I’m trusting Him, and following Him, then I will get to that place that he has spent so much of His time and effort preparing for me. This time of year this scripture is quoted so often to graduates, but in this season it takes on new meaning for me.

Jer. 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. It’s like I can almost hear God screaming, “Surprise! This is your life!”

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