EXPECTING THE UNEXPECTED

When I’m riding my bike, I usually like to listen to music. I’m totally the opposite when I’m in a vehicle, I prefer no music. But, the music seems to make the miles go by quicker and sometimes can motivate me up a steep hill when the right song comes on.

My first mp3 player was a Sansa. It worked great for a while but then it wouldn’t allow me to add any more songs to it. This happened, of course, after the warranty went out. I called the factory and they had me do some things with it but still it didn’t work. So, I decided I’d need a different one for my tour.

I was able to find a newer Sansa, the Sansa Fuze, that someone was selling on ebay. A real plus to winning it was that it already had about 750 songs loaded on it. Whoever had it liked about every genre of music you can think of. I deleted most of what I didn’t like and installed my own songs. I think it has about 850 on it so far. Which should be enough to last me for a 31 day trip, I think.

One feature that I like on mp3 players is the ability to shuffle the songs. I will start my practice ride with a particular song and then I never know what song will play next, it’s always unexpected.

Life seems to be the same way. We never know for sure what’s going to happen from one day to the next. Yeah, you can go into the same job, day after day, and do the same routine, but there is always the chance of something different happening each day, or a different opportunity that may arise. The unexpected could happen at any moment.

Sudden death is usually unexpected. People don’t normally like to talk about death, but, ten out of ten people die and we need to be as prepared for it as we possibly can. I heard news lately of three boys, aged 15-20, that were working at a grain elevator and one fell in a large corn bin. The other two jumped in to try and save him. Two of the boys died. That was an unexpected accident.

I have a number of friends that have developed cancer or other illnesses and none of them ever expected it. I work in an industry that accidents happen, no matter how many safety precautions you make, that are never expected. One of our employees was riding his motorcycle to work the other day and a deer ran out in front of him. He hit and killed the deer, destroyed the bike and barely escaped, what could have been, a fatal accident. He didn’t expect that to happen that day.

We don’t often know why things happen when they do. If we did, we’d probably try and be a little more prepared, or we should anyway. There’s nothing wrong with asking God “why” this or that happened but we should never doubt Him. We can’t see the big picture, just a small bit of it.

There’s a song by one of my favorite Christian groups, Go Fish, that is called Parade. Here’s how the lyrics go:

“Life rolls down the street right in front of me / Marchin’ to a rhythm of its own / Up, down, I feel like I’m livin’ on a slide trombone / Watchin’ it all with my heart parked in a tow-away zone / You never really know what’s comin’ up next / If you blink it’ll pass you by / Right when you think you’ve seen it all – Surprise! // You see the whole parade / From the beginning to the end / You know the route my life will take / You know exactly where I’ve been / ‘Cuz while I only see what’s goin’ by in front of me / You see the whole parade.”

Are you prepared for death? God’s Word says in Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Everyone who has lived will someday stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Are you ready for that day?

Even though so many things in this life happen unexpected, I have an expectation that someday when I die I’ll be in the presence of my Lord Jesus and find rest in Him and my Heavenly home. I have gladness and joy in that hope. Proverbs 10:28 says, “The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.” I pray you might have my same expectation.

I’m thankful for what my God has in store for me and that there is nothing unexpected that happens that He does not know about. He always knows what’s best and His ways are just and right. I just need to make sure that I always allow Him to lead my parade.