Surprise!

Gen 48:11 "And Israel said to Joseph, 'I had not thought to see your face; but in fact, God has also shown me your offspring!'"

I am a Dad and I am a Grandpa. Frankly, of all the things that this world has to offer there is nothing that is more significant in my life. It is my privilege to be the Dad of Michelle and Elise. Those two girls have blessed Georgann and me more than they will ever know. Then to have Maddie come into the world is the cherry on top of the whip cream.

And here is Israel (Jacob) with three men in front of him: Joseph his son, and Manasseh and Ephraim, two of his grandsons. Now Israel had a bunch of other kids and grandkids, but this was different. This was special. Israel thought that Joseph was dead. He thought that he would never see Joseph again in this life. To come to Egypt and to see him and to live with him for seventeen years was something that Israel never imagined would happen. But on top of this, not only was Joseph alive but he had sons. Israel not only got to get to know his son all over again, but he also got to know these two grandsons. One thing did not escape Israel's knowledge: God did this. "God has also shown me your offspring." Surprise!

A couple days ago I wrote about how many times we don't see things. There are times when it seems like God is silent and we have to wait. Today is the flip side. There are other times when God wants to show us things. There are times when God wants to reveal what He is up to. There are times when we actually can be brought into the presence of God and He surprises us. I love this about God. He is not a God who is up in heaven playing games with us, putting a carrot in front of our noses and then yanking it right before we get to eat it. He is a God who wants to show us, to teach us, to reveal things to us, to surprise us. In fact, He wants to surprise us so much that what is done goes beyond our wildest imagination. There was no way that Israel ever thought that he would see Joseph and his grandsons. I mean this thought would be just crazy…but God does crazy, impossible things. "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." Eph 3:20 "Above all that we ask or think." God wants to surprise us. God loves to surprise us. When He does, we know that He is God. It is God at work because He is the One who is in charge of the impossible.

I have seen this in my life. I see this in my wife. God has given me more than I could ever imagine in her. As I said before, my girls…more than I could imagine. I saw this in God supplying when our girls were in college. Always there. Always ready to supply all that we needed…and then some. I saw him do this in placing me in the job I am currently in. I had the thought that I would like to be with this firm one day, but it was only a thought…I never thought that it would really happen…but He did it…and He did it without me even pushing for it. I see Him currently doing it in our church. Things are happening that I could only have hoped for, but He is the God of surprises and He loves to see our joy.

Thank you God.