Expect the Unexpected

Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Genesis 3:10, ” So he said, ‘I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.’ “

Background

There are so many aspects of parenting that I was unprepared for that I have lost count.
Some of them are incredibly joyful and rewarding, while others tend toward the painful and embarrassing. For instance, I never would have imagined that I could just sit for hours and watch my young child play on the den floor. However, I also never would have imagined that my young one could come to me in tears from a fall or a scrape and I would react, not with compassion or sympathy, but with anger. But it’s true. I have seen it in myself and my wife. A child will be doing exactly what we warned them not to do, precisely when we needed them not to do it, and the end result is scraped hands or torn pants, and our whole schedule is compromised because of unnecessary carelessness. I wasn’t prepared for that side of me. Petty anger was supposed to be left behind in middle school. But unexpected emotions can be tricky. When Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, there was the warning from God of death. But while Adam kept breathing after he swallowed, he wasn’t prepared for the fear that gripped him when he heard God walking in the garden. And so he hid. Unequipped to handle this urnfamiliar anxiety, Adam had to decide what to do with it. And so he hid.

Application

Likewise for us, the unexpected is going to come. The unflattering look in the mirror is inevitable. But God asks what will you do with it? In the past, I have hidden by justifying my anger or making sure they knew whose fault their mishap was. But that doesn’t get me anywhere. It doesn’t get them anywhere. God sought out Adam because He knew that we would hide when we blew it. He knew we would blame because He knew we were not equipped. We can’t fix and we can’t undo. But we can take it all to Him. When your heart fails you in yet another new way and the shame comes calling, don’t hide from the One who forgives and cleanses. Don’t refuse the work of the cross that does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Let it again save you and make you whole, just like you’d expect.

Charge

As we seek Him today, expect the unexpected. Ask God to make you so dependent on Him that everything that comes your way will be taken His way.