What do you feel when you hear the word "surprise"? Excitement? Apprehension? Curiosity? Experience tells us there can be both "good" surprises, and "bad" surprises. This morning I was praying at church and I felt the Holy Spirit drop a prayer into my heart: "God I receive all the surprises you have for me this year." And I giggled. I prayed that prayer for our church and for my family, and I giggled some more. You see, as soon as I heard that prayer I knew there were some surprises coming our way, and not all of them were going to seem good at the time. However, I also knew that God will do some amazing things and He is going to take those things that seem not good, even really bad, and turn them into a huge blessing!
Every new year, for some time now, I seek God for a word that he wants me to focus on as a theme for the year. Often it serves as a reminder of what God is doing. For 2020 my word was hope, and oh, how I needed to cling to hope in 2020! This year I really feel like the word for the year is receive. God wants me to receive what he has for me. Its time to receive answers to prayer (ask, believe, receive) and I need to be open to receive what he allows into my life: both the good and (what seems like) bad. This felt so similar to something God was speaking to me several years ago, that I had to go back and look at my blog. The word in 2014 was embrace (more about that in the blog post linked there). At the end of that year I reflected on how God was teaching me to embrace both the good and the hard things in my life that year. There were some things that happened that year that hit me so hard, I was devastated. Yet, several years later, I see the results of those experiences that devastated me at the time, and God has actually turned it into one of the greatest blessings in my life. I believe that was his plan all along, and its only now that I can see it.
That's why I giggled when I thought about the surprises coming our way this year (you included, my friend). There are some surprises coming our way that we are in no way expecting, but don't become concerned. They do not take God by surprise. God takes those things that seem like defeat, the ones that seem like death or devastation, and he turns them into victory and blessing! I keep hearing this song "Graves into Gardens" daily over the last few weeks, and maybe this is why:
You turn mourning to dancing You give beauty for ashes You turn shame into glory You’re the only one who can You turn graves into gardens You turn bones into armies You turn seas into highways You’re the only one who can
What will 2021 hold for us, our families, our business, our ministry, our church, our friends? God only knows. What I do know is that we don't need to fear or fret when the unexpected happens. God is working. He has plans we can't understand or comprehend. God has got this. There are good things on their way to you! Open yourself up to receive all the surprises He has for you!
Remember he's the one who takes ashes and turns them into something beautiful. He's the one who takes dead, stinking corpses and breaths life back into them! There is nothing impossible for God, and don't be surprised if he uses something you never thought possible to bring blessing into your life. God commands blessing over you and every circumstance must submit to his command!
God Bless You,
Lisa
