Surprised

As I have grown older, it seems as if I am less frequently surprised. As children we are filled with the spirit of curiosity, wonder and surprise. Life experience turns "first-time-ever" explorations and discoveries into routines. Many of us tend to allow the sense of awe to quietly melt away. Life grows dull.

During a recent morning reverie spent with my friend the Prophet Habakkuk, I was suddenly filled with wonder. By the Spirit Habakkuk was entrusted with a special prophetic promise, "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea." (Habakkuk 2:14) As I spent time musing over that promise I could come up with no definitive explanation of what the promise meant.

How much knowledge does it take to cover the earth as waters cover the sea? I simply don’t know the answer. And, worse than that, I am not sure the question is appropriate. The promise is set in a context of judgments, woes and disgrace assigned to those who flaunt their personal privileges and abuse others with their power. The assurance of God’s glory being evident as described by my friend Habakkuk is surprising to the max because of its setting.

Have you discovered that God inserts surprises into the dullness of our routines? He is a specialist at interrupting "hum drum." I hear the Almighty saying, "Let me show you something!" In the middle of political bickering, name calling and petty displays of selfish snit, the Eternal One says, "The promise is still in effect!" Economies have come and gone, but I am the Eternal One who is prepared to stand routines on their heads!

I had one of those moments when the glory of the Lord dawned on me. The duration of the dawning wasn’t long but the impact was more memorable as a Detroit Tiger comeback in a must-win playoff game. Pat and I were traveling from the Midwest to my preaching point last Saturday. We had awakened in Western Pennsylvania to a hazy, dreary sky with visibility of a few hundred yards. F. Frank Baum’s, The Wizard of Oz was entertaining us, the audio book, not the movie! And then, suddenly and without warning, as we crossed over one of Pennsylvania’s mountains to witness the sunless dreariness of the morning wonderfully interrupted with the light of an unseasonably warm sun. It seemed as if the sun declared, "No clouds today!" Sunlight focused on the mountain sides lining the otherwise boring Route 80. The colors blazed intensely . . . reds, yellows and oranges were contrasted with splashes of dark evergreens. Wonder filled us! We were surprised at each turn of the road which has become our personal metaphor for monotony. Colors! Colors everywhere, as the waters cover the sea!

For a while I felt half my age, invigorated with a robust appetite for another challenge, another daring moment when trusting God for something new bubbled warmly way down deep. "Habakkuk," I thought, "When will this happen in the dimensions of your word?" Remember, when I am with the prophet alone I call him "Hab." "Hab, tell me again that the promise will be part of all mankind’s experience! I am still uncertain about the when and how, but I have a new visual image to carry with me when the clouds close in and the sun is hidden from view.