FAMILY IT! — Wednesday Family Devotional — “Unexpected Beginnings”

Supplies: Bible

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We like predictability.  Yeah, ok, it’s fun to be spontaneous once in awhile, but all in all, we find comfort in the fact that life operates in a certain, relatively consistent pattern.  The sun comes up in the east.  If something tastes delicious, odds are it’s not good for you.  Half the kids in the mall will cry when it’s their turn to sit on Santa’s knee.  Good brings good, bad brings bad, and the Chicago Cubs…well, you get my point.  We expect certain things in life.  That’s why, when we don’t get what we expect, we are often taken aback.  We even have a catch phrase:

“It’s not supposed to happen that way.”

The slacker in your history class who sleeps through every lecture ends up getting the best grade at the end of the semester. — It’s not supposed to happen that way.

The short, geeky guy ends up at the dance with the prom queen. — It’s not supposed to happen that way. 

You slip on some ice and do a phenomenal hip-hop ballet move, never once spilling a drop of your latte. — It’s not supposed to happen that way.

A wonderful family who love God and serve others gets into a fatal car accident. — It’s not supposed to happen that way.

Can you think of anything that would fit this category?  Good or bad, what’s happened to you lately that caused you to say, “It’s not supposed to happen that way”?

READ

Read Luke 1:26-49 together as a family. 

THINK

If we have a certain expectation for the predictability of life, we have an even greater expectation for the predictability of God.  We have built God a nice little box and expect Him to do His work within the confines of that box.  And let’s face it—Mary and Elizabeth’s story are waaaaaaayyyyyy outside that box.  I think we get so used to the story that we forget how absolutely absurd it is: first-time parents who are old enough to be grandparents and a pregnant unwed teenager.  This story that kicks off Luke’s gospel is the stuff of tabloids.  Can you imagine the headline in The Judean Enquirer?  “Teen Pregnancy Shocker: ‘There’s no dad!’”  Then inside there’d be a picture of a partner-less Mary and her senior citizen cousin taking their Lamaze classes together.

It’s not supposed to happen that way!  God’s not supposed to work like that!  Or is He? 

God is the Master of the unexpected.  Some of His greatest works happen in unexpected circumstances, in unexpected places, and through unexpected people.  We just need to open our minds to see them and recognize His hand at work.  Mary’s family and neighbors likely had a hard time with that.  Joseph certainly did, until an angel set him straight (how unexpected!).  When we go through difficult seasons, when we struggle through the difficulties, when we’re fighting the slings and arrows of gossip and judgment, it can be challenging to think of our life circumstances in those moments as part of God’s plan.  It just seems counterintuitive.  But we’ve got to remember that God uses the unexpected to reveal His will and bring salvation.  Our job is not to manipulate our circumstances or even try to make sense of them.  Our job is to be like Mary and say, “I am the Lord’s servant…My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,…for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name.” (v 38, 46, 47, 49)

APPLY

Think about the situations you shared a minute ago.  Maybe you’ve had a couple of other examples come to mind.  The temptation may be to try and figure out how God is working through those situations.  You can certainly ask Him—and He may choose to tell you.  But in the meantime, you still have a role to play.  Whether your struggle is at work, at home or at school, choose to be the Lord’s servant in unexpected circumstances.  Commit to submit to God’s will as it unfolds in and around you remembering that great things have come from unexpected beginnings.

PRAY

Glorious God, thank You for being all that You are—completely indescribable in every way.  Forgive us, Father, for trying to pigeonhole You and limit Your ways and workings in our lives.  Have Your own way, Lord!  Today we surrender fully to Your purpose, in all its unexpected wonder.  In Your Holy Name we pray, Amen.

REPLY

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