Are You Ready To Let God’s Goodness Surprise You?

“Interruptions are often divine surprises that will bless your life in unexpected ways.” ~ Carol Kent

When our lives are interrupted and things don’t go as we had hoped or planned for, we can still choose to rely on God’s goodness.

March 11th 2021 marked the one year anniversary of when Covid-19 was declared a pandemic across America and the world. This is a good time to pause and reflect on what this year was like for you personally.

For most of us, there is a lot of grief wrapped around the memories of this past year. The Covid-19 pandemic brought with it enemies other than sickness and death. It brought large doses of fear, anxiety and depression. Having our lives turned upside down, and not knowing what the future holds has not been easy to process. Spiritually, this crisis brought us to a crossroad in our faith. We have to choose to either walk believing in God’s goodness, or we choose to remain stuck in our anguish.

God has never left us and has been by our side every moment, just as He promised (Hebrews 13:5b).

Still, it may be challenging to believe in God’s goodness when there is so much affliction. After all, if God loves us then why would He have allowed so much suffering?

The truth is that regardless of our circumstances, God is still good and He enjoys blessing His children. In fact, I often fondly think of God as the God of sweet surprises. Trusting Him when our circumstances don’t make sense and/or our plans are disrupted isn’t easy. However, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “we must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God.”

God’s goodness surprises us when we trust His divine interruptions.

Is it possible that the Covid-19 pandemic was one huge interruption by God? I’m not suggesting that God caused this virus to steal, kill and harm so many. He definitely did not. But did He use Covid-19 to rattle our worlds, to help pierce open our spiritual hearts and minds? I believe He did. After all He is sovereign.

For me, the pandemic triggered a great deal of angst. Unfortunately, it is my natural tendency to fear and worry. Consequently I isolated and stayed home a lot. I even didn’t see some of my children at Christmas because of my fear of catching the virus (something I regret terribly).

Recently, praise the Lord, I had a breakthrough with my anxiety in this area. I was tired of living my life filled with so much worry. I told myself to focus on God’s goodness more and less on my feelings. This meant having to truly surrender all my burdens to God and trust in His sovereignty. Psalm 139:16 has encouraged me greatly. It reminds me that I can trust God’s goodness. This Psalmist says, “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” This doesn’t mean I begin living carelessly. God still wants us to be wise in all circumstances. It simply means focusing on God’s sovereignty and accepting His will for myself and for my loved ones.

Trusting in God’s goodness has become a matter of survival for me.

Give your burdens to the Lord,

and he will take care of you.

He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

Psalm 55:22

Acceptance is a key ingredient in living a life of faith. When I choose to surrender my situation to God and rest in the knowledge of who He is (a good God), I am comforted. When I can admit that I am powerless over what the future holds, for myself or for my loved ones, I am more at peace. Choosing to surrender to God is a choice I have to make consistently, and sometimes several times a day.

Believing in God’s goodness allows us to be interrupted by Him.

But I am trusting you, O Lord, saying, “You are my God! My future is in your hands…” ~ Psalm 31:14-15a

Author and speaker Carol Kent says that “Interruptions are often divine surprises that will bless your life in unexpected ways.” I believe this to be true, and that we can trust that God, in His goodness, longs to be good to us and has sweet surprises ahead for us (Isaiah 30:18).

Are you ready to let God’s goodness surprise you?

Ask yourself where do you put your hope? Is it in your own agendas or can you be interrupted by God’s? Do you really trust in the goodness of God and in His plans for your life? Romans 5:3-4 says it beautifully: “We also celebrate in seasons of suffering because we know that when we suffer we develop endurance, which shapes our characters. When our characters are refined, we learn what it means to hope and anticipate God’s goodness” (The Voice Translation).

God never wastes a sorrow and always has a specific plan by which great blessings can come out of our difficulties.

Are you able to see the blessings that have come from this painful year of Covid-19? One blessing that I can see for myself is that my husband and I have grown closer to one another. The pandemic forced us to spend more time together, going for walks, watching shows, or just hanging out at home. Truly this has been a sweet surprise from the Lord.

When our lives are interrupted and things don’t go as we had hoped or planned for, we can rely on the goodness of God. In fact, God wants us to expect good things from Him (Psalm 27:13-14). In difficult times imagine your heavenly Father whispering “just rest.” We can do our part and learn to respond with a joyful anticipation, and a childlike faith and say, “I’m waiting Lord.”

I hope you are ready to let God’s goodness surprise you. I know I am.

“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” ~ Isaiah 43:19