Emphasis Preaching Journal

Lynn recalls seeing a cartoon in a magazine with a small child asking, "Do caterpillars know they're going to be butterflies, or does God surprise them?" As Lynn reflected she recalled numerous stories from the Bible where God surprised people. There have been times in her life when she felt God's surprises as well. "I see this most often in solutions to problems that seem impossible," she explains. There was the time when she lost her wedding ring. She searched her house room by room, top to bottom still unable to find her ring. Stress got the best of her, thinking she had forever lost her ring. She gave up and stopped looking for it. Then one day as she was cleaning she moved the dresser and found her ring on the edge of the baseboard.

How many times in our lives are we ready to give up, thinking the situation is impossible, and then God surprises us with new insight or gives us a new task, and a new direction?

In our lesson God surprised Elijah. The prophet was on the run, frightened from death threats. God's surprise was an angel who brought food and water. Later Elijah was hiding in a cave. There was "a great wind," but God was "not in the wind." Then there was an earthquake followed by fire. But God was not in the earthquake or fire. It was then that God came to him in a still small voice. "What are you doing here Elijah?" God asked. Elijah had to place his trust in God.