Day 18: Mysterious Ways 2

Well, no one ever went back and answered my question from Day 12. It's a shame too, since I was looking forward to seeing some of the answers. When God decides to surprise us, it always seems to make for an interesting story.

Here was/were the question(s):

When has God surprised you? Where has God shown up when you weren't expecting it?


For me, it seems that at the times when I feel God is furthest away, he is actually right there alongside me, working things out to his purposes. The problem is, it doesn't feel like this is the case at the time, and it is only clear on reflection on those times. I think it really comes down to a trust thing in the end. If God always let us know what was up and what is coming our way, it would eliminate some of the need to just trust that he has got everything under control.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD. (Isaiah 55:8, NIV)

God certainly doesn't do things the way I do things. He doesn't do things the way I expect him to do things either. Here's some hypothetical examples which parallel what I feel sometimes actually happens:

• I pray for patience... I get stuck in traffic
• I pray for wisdom... I have to make a hard choice
• I pray for stronger faith... I become wracked with doubt

Perhaps you've got your own experiences like what I'm talking about here. A couple years ago I said a prayer for more patience. I'm not sure why this particular prayer sticks out in my head, I'm sure I've prayed for all sorts of things like it before, but it does. Since praying that prayer, it seems I have been thrust into situations which require huge amounts of patience, lots of waiting, more harder decisions without a word from God, longer waits till I understand what he wants me to do. And the problem: I wasn't any more patient than I was before! I've said it before, I'll say it again, it seems God is not in the business of magically poofing his children into spitting images of him. Instead, to grow us, we are put into situations which will strengthen us. And these situations are not always pleasant.

God really showed up in an unexpected way when it came time for me to pick a college. I'm not even sure I was really all that interested in making the decision or seeking God's guidance at the time, but I know my family had been in prayer about it at the very least. I had it narrowed down to two colleges, a local one, and Georgia Tech. I was leaning toward going to the local college but God intervened. When I went to visit the college and have an overnight tour/stay, it ended up being one of the weirdest, most uncomfortable experiences of my life. The guy I was staying with pretty much gave me a room number and took off, leaving me with some other guys who weren't really interested in the idea that I was staying with them at all. And their apartment was pretty much the nastiest home I've ever seen. After that, I was questioned relentlessly by some professor about both my religion and why I would want to major in Computer Science in a liberal arts program. The whole thing was ridiculous, but I did learn some life lessons from it. It made my decision, I was going to Georgia Tech. I can look back now and say that there can be no other reason I made it there but by the grace of God. I have seen his hand move in my pursuit of new friends, experiences, and growth as a person there that wouldn't have happened back at home. But he certainly picked an interesting way to get me there.
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I'm going to move on, but I'd still like to hear your own stories. Feel free to leave a comment. It's great to hear how surprising and interesting our God is!