Our lives are filled with surprises; some we are thankful for, others we could do without. A surprise birthday party, surprise bouquet of flowers, or surprise call from a long-lost friend, those warm our hearts.

However, that broken window you came home to after a weekend away, the oil spot on the garage floor under your car, the unexpected “we need to talk” from your spouse, that uh-oh you hear from the team trainer as they tend to your injured shoulder, those are surprises you could have done without. Many years ago, one of our daughters inadvertently dialed 9-1-1 before hanging up, and soon thereafter, we got a surprise visit from the local police department, who, just for the record, were not amused.

Not only do people and things surprise us, but God also often shows up unexpectedly or in unexpected ways. As followers of Jesus, we are instructed to seek God’s guidance through the leading of the Holy Spirit (John 16:13-15). We most often find God’s guidance through prayer, “alone time” with Him, and the reading of Scripture. God sometimes speaks to us in other ways too, but prayer, reading and meditating upon His Word, and quiet times with the Lord should be part of our everyday rhythm, whether for daily guidance or wisdom for a difficult situation or decision.  

Sometimes we are looking for God and He shows up in ways we expect, while other times He comes unexpectedly or in a way that catches us off guard. Often, because of how our minds work, we tend to put God in a box and when He acts outside that box, we fail to recognize that it is God. I recall a time when I had a particularly difficult decision to make and one night, in the middle of a rare, good night’s sleep, God unexpectedly woke me and surprisingly spoke clearly to me, giving me my answer. I accepted His answer, truthfully, somewhat reluctantly, and while I did not know it at the time, it was a watershed moment in moving us into a life of ministry and church planting.

More times than I can count, during one of my sermons or teaching opportunities, God spoke to me and gave me something I had not planned to share. A few times, just as I was about to preach, God changed my entire sermon, requiring me to amp up my trust and speak as He led me. As strange as this sounds, I love those moments. Think of a time God showed up to you when you least expected it. Often, that least expected moment is also when we most needed it!

After Adam and Eve rebelled by eating the forbidden fruit, God showed up and walked with them in the Garden (Genesis 3:8). Moses was minding his own business, tending his sheep like he had done for forty years, when God showed up and spoke to Him in a burning bush (Exodus 3:1-6). God showed up to Jacob in a wrestling match (Genesis 32:22-32). Daniel was protected in the lion’s den (Daniel 6:16-28). Gideon experienced God in wool fleece (Judges 6:36-40). In 1 Kings 19:11-13, God revealed Himself to the prophet Elijah in an unexpected way. Not through powerful forces, but rather, through a low whisper, literally, a gentle blowing. The Christmas Story is one unexpected event after another, culminating in God showing up in a most unexpected way – as a little baby.

God has been making surprise visits since the first pages of the Bible, and He continues to come in unexpected and often surprising ways. When God visits, it is for a purpose. So, today, keep an open heart and open mind, an attentive ear, an observing eye; you just never know when or where He will show up!  

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Hoover Dam is located on the Colorado River between Arizona and Nevada, and is the second tallest dam in the United States, at a height of 726 feet. (The tallest dam is the Oroville Dam in California.) Hoover Dam impounds Lake Mead, which is the largest reservoir in the U.S., measured by water capacity, supplying water to Nevada, Arizona, and California. At its current level, the lake holds over three trillion gallons of water. Every decrease in the lake’s water level by just a single inch would release two billion gallons of water, so just imagine if the engineers that maintain Hoover Dam ignored a breach, no matter how small, in the dam. The results could be catastrophic.     

What was once little, if ignored, often becomes big. We so often neglect or ignore the “little” things, or we find ourselves in “little” sins, and over time if we do not make changes to those attitudes or actions, they become “big” things, and we wonder what happened. To be clear, God does not categorize sins as being big or little. To God, a sin is a sin. It is only us humans who often try to lessen the guilt by calling a particular sin or bad behavior “little.” You’ve heard the line, or maybe even said it yourself – “At least I didn’t do that!”

What I am referring to can be called “drift.” It is that slow migration from good into not so good, little by little, often without really noticing, until the pin-sized leak becomes a gaping hole. We drift in many areas of our lives, and we rarely, if ever, drift in a positive way. We naturally drift away from everything holy and everything wholesome. Think about your health, your relationships, your finances – without intentional and committed effort they tend to simply drift, a slow erosion, into something less than what they could be. And how about your relationship with God? That, too, drifts in a negative direction unless you purposely strive to become more like Him.

The Bible gives us the prescription to avoid drift. Here is what we read in Hebrews 3:12-13 – “See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”

The way to help avoid drift is found in being in community with others. It is found in “we” not in “me.” We need to be checking in with each other and checking on each other. Why? The drift starts in our heart. And nobody knows, unless somebody has access to you. The Greek word used here for encourage is not just rah, rah, rah; it means exhort, plead, urge, appeal to. And the word daily literally means day after day after day. It’s an ongoing thing. It’s a relational thing.

So, I ask you today, are you flying solo or are you in healthy and loving community with others? Do you have others who can see your pint-sized hole before it becomes so big that the results are catastrophic?

If you are encouraged by this or any of my writings, you can subscribe to be notified by email when I post something new. To subscribe, click here. Once you put in your email address you will then get an email confirming that you wish to subscribe. Thank you.