The Beauty of God's Surprises

 

Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer! O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him. Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord. (Psalm 40:1-5 ESV).

 

God’s grace is always a bit surprising to me. I was reminded of that recently when we were traveling through Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Mary and I were driving along the 11 mile loop and hopeful we might see some bears or a few deer along the way. We almost always see some wildlife, though seeing big bucks up close is a bit rare. We had gone through a relatively open area and seen a bear, but nothing else yet. Coming through a more wooded part of the loop, Mary said, “There’s a buck!” pointing out the driver’s side window. I looked and there they were just inside the tree line. As you can see these two were big! There were actually five in all, though the others were a bit more shy about having their picture taken. What a pleasant surprise!

 

Just as there was nothing I could or did do to make this happen, so it is with the grace of God. Sometimes we act as if we can fix the problem of sin in our lives. We imagine that if we improve ourselves, we can be free of sin and guilt. We think that if we just work hard enough, our lives will become better. And if our friends and family would just listen to us, our relationships would become better too.

 

But the problem is too big for us. We cannot save ourselves from the problem of our separation from God. We cannot even stop ourselves from sinning. Only God can do that. Our reading today sings praise to the God who saves us. It sings praise to the God who is strong enough to conquer sin and is gracious enough to do that for us. It sings praise to the God who chose not to stay separated from us but came to save us and restore us to himself. It sings of a salvation so great that only God could accomplish it. God has loved us in so many ways.

 

The psalmist says to God, “Were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.” The many wonders God has done to save us are beautiful. Our abundant and beautiful salvation comes from God, the only one who can save us. That is such a marvelous “surprise”! God’s beauty is often such a surprise.