Today, I want to explore the great surprise of the Christian life, which centers on how God surprises us in ways we often don't expect. I discuss the importance of giving our lives to God as a living sacrifice and how, contrary to our fears of emptiness, He fills us with what we truly need. Throughout the episode, I emphasize that God's ways are different from ours, and that by following His guidance, we can experience a deeper satisfaction. We reflect on Biblical teachings, especially from Romans 12, and challenge ourselves to embrace a new way of living that aligns with God's will. Ultimately, the journey of faith is filled with unexpected blessings that enrich our lives beyond what we could imagine.
Takeaways:
The Christian life is often filled with unexpected surprises that challenge our understanding.
When we give ourselves to God, He fills our lives in ways we never anticipated.
Living a life according to God's ways leads to true satisfaction and fulfillment.
We must not conform to worldly customs, but embrace a renewed identity in Christ.
The surprising nature of God's ways teaches us to rely on Him rather than our expectations.
In times of sacrifice, we often discover deeper connections with God and His purpose for us.
Hi, welcome to the Hobo Soul podcast of road advice from the Bible and from me, Yvon Prehn, someone who's a little further down the road of life. I'll talk to you every weekday for about five to 10 minutes, with periodic longer talks on serious Saturdays. Let's get started with our topic today,
Speaker B:
Lenten Devotion number 17, The great surprise of the Christian life.
Today we're going to talk about how God surprises us. And so as not to spoil the surprise, let's jump right into it.
Today's quote is from Romans 12:1 and 2 in today's living Bible, where it says,
"And so, dear brothers, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living sacrifice, holy, the kind he can accept. When you think of what he's done for you, is this too much to ask?
Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but be a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think. Then you will learn from your own experience how his ways will really satisfy you."
Here's today's challenge.
"One of the great surprises of the Christian life is that whenever we think we're giving up something for God and fear will be empty, God fills us in ways we didn't expect. Not always with exactly what we wanted, but always with what we needed."
Let's talk about this a little bit more.
God's actions towards his creation are filled with constant surprises. It's always been like this. Now, some of these surprises weren't necessarily happy ones.
For example, did you know that it had never rained before the flood came? Which is why Noah's act of building the ark was one of such great faith. Nobody knew what he was talking about or why he was building a boat.
Why would you need a boat? Now, not many of God's surprises or judgments like that, but God does what we don't expect.
Again and again, he surprises us because his ways of doing things are so different, as the Bible tells us in Isaiah 55, 8, 9. This is how it puts it in the new International Version.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord, as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
I like how the message translation puts it because it says,
"I don't think the way you think. This is God speaking. The way you work isn't the way I work. God's decree. For as the sky soars high above the earth, so the way I Work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think"
It's like that for how we ought to grow in our Christian life, it really isn't what we expect. God surprises us with what he asks for.
We expect God to bless what we do, to comfort us when we're sad, to give us things we can't get on our own. But it doesn't take walking with God very long to realize that's not always how it is now. He's often gracious and kind.
But we do have to take responsibility for our lives.
And one of the things that we are commanded to do is how this passage started that I read to you earlier from Romans 12, where it says, "don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but be a new and different person, with a fresh newness and in all you do and think."
Our first thought when we read this is that if we constantly go against what the rest of the world is doing, if we don't follow their behavior and customs, we're just going to be weird. But the surprise is that if we don't follow the world, if we follow God's ways of doing things, it will happen.
As the end of this verse promises, "you will learn from your own experience how his ways will will really satisfy you."
The challenge, though, to get there comes from the first part of the verse when it talks about how before we experience satisfaction in God's way of doing things, we need to, as the apostle Paul says, "give your bodies to God. Let them be a living sacrifice, holy, the kind he can accept." Now. What does that mean, to give your body to God?
It means our life and the tangible things we do with our bodies. What we say, where we go, how we define ourselves sexually, how we do our work, the friendships we have.
Everything we do in our bodies and with our bodies belongs to Jesus. If you don't know what that means in practical terms, keep reading. Romans 12.
This isn't any sort of deep theology, but really practical advice on how to live. And here's what it says. I'm reading to you again from the Message translation. It's so clear.
"Love from the center of who you are. Don't fake it.
Run for dear life from evil. Hold on to dear life for good. Be good friends who love deeply. Practice playing second fiddle. Don't burn out. Keep yourselves fueled and aflame.
Be alert, servants of the Master Cheerfully expectant Don't quit in hard times Pray all the harder. Help needy Christians. Be inventive in hospitality. Bless your enemies. No cursing under your breath. Laugh with happy friends.
Share tears with others when they're down. Get along with each other. Don't be stuck up. Make friends with nobodies. Don't be the great somebody. Don't hit back. Discover beauty in everyone.
If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even. That's not for you to do. I'll do the judging, says God. I'll take care of it.
Our scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch. Or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don't let evil get the best of you.
Get the best of evil by doing good."
What a great way to live! Imagine living that way. One who loves deeply, who lives cheerfully expectant, who discovers beauty in everyone.
Try living the advice of Romans 12 and instead of the constricted, joyless existence you may have feared would describe a life given to God, the great surprise will be a life that truly satisfies.
And of course, the biggest and best surprise of all is coming from all the little deaths, the denials, the Lenten times of giving up that turned out so well one day, as the title of our devotion book says, in dying we will be reborn. When that happens, it may look like our eyes are closing to those who don't want to say goodbye, it may seem a sad thing, but for us, the great surprise is that we'll open our eyes forever to Jesus and in joy unending
Speaker A:
In closing this Lenten devotional, which is a special Hobo Soul series that I'm doing for Lent, I'd encourage you to pause, take time to share with Jesus your response, thoughts and prayers to what you just heard. You can do this quietly in your heart, or you can write it out.
I have a free journal with the quotes, challenges, and space for you to write in that you can download at www.bible805.com Let me close in prayer for you that as Jesus went into the wilderness to solidify his calling, that you, during this time retreat to a place spiritually where God can significantly deepen your relationship with him, where he can speak to you regardless of the temptations and distractions in your life, and that you'll come out of it with a quick, clear sense of his calling for you and a commitment to follow it. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Amen.
