Did God ever do anything amazing in your life that was so creative, so far-fetched, so opposite of what you ever thought He’d do, that you just had to laugh? I’m sure you can think of some. Work like this is His specialty! It’s one of His signature moves!
When Steve and I lived in Washington, DC, we’d travel up to Lancaster, Pennsylvania to visit my oldest sister, Debbie, and her family. We’d travel up Interstate 95, connect with 695 (the beltway around Baltimore), pick up Interstate 83 to York, and finally Route 30 to Lancaster. At that point in my life, my view of York, Pennsylvania was what I could see from Interstate 83 and a very small piece of Route 30. I intend no offense to York or anyone who lives there, but the view from those two highways isn’t very pretty. It’s all industrial buildings and vacant lots. Every single time we’d make this trip to visit Debbie, I’d actually say, “I will never live in York, Pennsylvania. Who would ever choose to live in this town?”
I’m certain that God in His heaven was looking down at me, shaking His head and chuckling. Because it was only a few years later that Steve took a job in York, Pennsylvania. If you recall, I wouldn’t live in York at first, however. Initially, we lived in Lancaster for eleven months while Steve worked in York and commuted back to the Altoona area for two and half more years. (I’m strong-willed, in case I didn’t tell you that already!) But when both our children were entering school, Steve and I looked for a home in the York area. We found a great house, in a great neighborhood, in a great school district. And get this, I got down on my face and prayed to the God of the universe and asked Him to please, please, let us move our family to York, Pennsylvania! Then I laughed, and I laughed.
I’m telling you, this God of ours works in ways we cannot understand. We must stop trying to dictate or guess or manipulate His answers to our prayers or His plans for our lives. You simply cannot put this God neatly in a box. He’s way too big for that! He’s so much more creative than that! His ways are not our ways! His thoughts are so much higher than our thoughts!
The next time God shows you something big, something powerful, something so far-fetched about Himself, may I suggest you respond just as Abraham did? Put yourself face down in humble, reverent worship that you have the privilege of knowing this great, mighty, powerful God. Bow to His authority. Submit to His divine plan. Then put on those big clown sunglasses and laugh! Laugh with joy about how creative He is. Laugh with delight about how wonderful He is. Laugh about how intimately, intricately involved in the lives of His children He is.
That’s exactly what I plan to do after I finish writing the last word of this book. What He’ll do with it, I don’t know. But how He thought of me to write it – the strong-willed, stubborn, rebellious child – now that’s a hoot!
He is so amazing!
