Finding God in the Unexpected
Table Talk
Setting the Table
You are welcome here. Come just as you are, bringing whatever is on your heart today. Take a few moments and allow yourself to just be. Take a couple deep breaths, grab yourself a cup of coffee, light a candle, do something that brings you comfort. Allow yourself to be present in this moment.
God is at work all around you! Take a moment to express gratitude for this humbling and remarkable truth.
A common mistake we make is that we look for God in places where we ourselves wish to find [God], yet even in the physical reality, this is a complete failure. For example, if you lost your car keys, you would not search where you want to search, you would search where you must in order to find them.
― Criss Jami
2 Kings 5:14
So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child, and he was healed!
Food for Thought
It’s Christmas morning and my 9-year-old self is pumped with excitement because in just a few minutes, I am going to open my presents sitting under the tree. As we are ripping through gifts, my cousin and I notice that there are two boxes under the tree with no one’s name on them. “Who are those for?”, we ask with hopeful anticipation. “They are yours.” My mother replies. Being a year older than my cousin, I get to pick first, and sure enough, I go for the bigger box. In the box is a fancy battery-operated police car with sirens and all the works! I jump for joy and show my cousin that I had gotten the best gift of all. Then, he opens his…and I cannot contain my shock. He unwraps a war tank that can do so much more than my police car! Jealousy and frustration overtake me while I mourn not taking the smaller box.
Throughout our lives, we are continuously taught to expect great things from a certain kind of source or package. Surely, the coolest toys come in the biggest boxes - right?! We make big plans for our life and pray for God to fall in line and make those plans work for us. We chase big homes, nice cars, and fine things because we are convinced that they are evidence of success and happiness. We can be so caught up in our expectations of what blessings should look like or where they should come from that we risk missing completely the actual blessings God has in store for us – blessings that can be most unexpected.
In the story of Naaman, Naaman is described as a great general who has won many battles, who has status and power in his community, and who is deeply respected by even his master. In his position, it is not presumptuous to think that he was used to getting his way. But he was also a person living with a painful skin disease. Though we assume he had access to the best medicine and doctors, he was unable to find relief. When a prophet tells him to dip his body into the muddy waters of the Jordan, he can't believe that God could possibly work miracles through muddy water. Surely, God’s miracles would come in a bigger, cleaner, fancier package. And yet, when he finally does as the prophet instructs him, the disease is washed away.
Many of us grew up with a more narrow view of who God is and how God can work in the world. Unlearning these views and relearning new ones – opening our hearts and minds to the beautifully diverse possibilities of where we can find God and in whom we can find God – can be extremely difficult, but it can also be extremely freeing.
God may be at work in the most unexpected places, situations, or people, but they will go unnoticed if we are too limited by our own ideas of what we think is “bigger” or “better”. If we are too busy looking where we want God to be, then we may fail to notice where God already is. God is at work all around us – but until we break down our walls and let go of the expectations we have put around God, we will continue to miss the ways that God is at work even in the muddy waters along the riverbanks of our lives.
When we open ourselves to the limitless possibilities of God, then we can see how God is moving us into richer and deeper experiences of love and fellowship with God and with those around us.
As we move into this Advent season, let us see and be grateful for all the ways God’s love and grace are showing up in the world. Let us listen to the voices of those around us and open our hearts to being moved by their stories. Let us use our own places of opportunity and privilege to lift others up with hope and possibility. Let us have compassion for those whose circumstances have come on difficult times, instead of quickly jumping to judgment.
Let us see everyone as a beloved child whom God loves and can work through to do miraculous and wonderful things. Listen and watch, because God is doing great things in unexpected places and through unexpected people. What a blessing indeed!
List five affirmations that can serve as reminders of your potential for the unexpected. Are you kind? Creative? Trustworthy? Write them down and return to them when you need a reminder of your capability to offer something of a miracle to the world.
Now is the perfect time of year to volunteer! Our communities are filled with opportunities to give to those in need. Perhaps intentionally leaning into those whose paths you would not typically cross, or even would typically avoid, will help you better know and have compassion for their story.
For a printable version of today's reflection Click Here!
If you are looking for a few ideas to create a more welcoming space this holiday season, here are Five Things to Remember When Setting a Welcome Table for the Holidays.
Blessing
God of All Your Beloved Children,
Thank you for all the ways you work miracles in this world. Help us to look past our own assumptions about you and others so that we can see where you truly are – in each and every one of us.
Amen.
A little Table Talk for your table...
Discuss with a friend some of the societal ideas we’ve created about what measures success, worth, and value.
Do you think we can attribute this to how we believe God measures success, worth, and value? Why or why not?
Has God ever used you in an unexpected way? Have you seen God work through a person or situation you would never expect? Share about this.
Try taking it to the Kids Table...
Ask your child what they think of when they think of success and happiness. What things do they aspire to achieve in their own life?
Share about a time you witnessed God work in an unexpected way.
Perhaps play a game with your kiddo where you present them with two boxes of different sizes – there’s a surprise in each. Ask them which box they would choose and why. Based on their reasoning (and what surprise you’ve put in each box), you could explain that our assumptions about what “package” holds a certain value isn’t always the case!
Meet Our Welcoming Voice!
James Blay is the former Vice President of Administration at the Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary. He now serves as the Coordinator for Children’s Programs with Passport Camps. James and his wife, Allison, enjoy spending their evenings chasing after their sweet pup, Benny!
To hear more from James throughout the week, follow along on our Instagram!