Expect the Unexpected

Wouldn't it be nice if, for the rest of your life, the only news you received was GOOD news? Obviously this is a nice idea...that is completely unrealistic. We understand that life doesn't always bring us news that we want. We don't always get an unexpected bonus, a snow day from school when we forgot to study, the grand prize giveaway or the announcement that we are being let off with a "warning this time."Maybe that is why when we receive GOOD news, it can feel so unexpected.My children grew up playing with a specific toy that ALWAYS had the same response, yet they always seemed to be caught off guard, as if it was unexpected. As they would turn the arm of their Jack-in-the-box, their eyes would grow wider and wider. They were EXPECTING something. Then all of the sudden - POP! And they would act like they weren't expecting it.They were expecting the unexpected.One of the things that is so amazing to me about the story of Christmas and the arrival of Jesus is not just that He came, but how He came.It was an UNEXPECTED ARRIVALThere was an UNEXPECTED ANNOUNCEMENTto an UNEXPECTED AUDIENCERevealing the way to UNEXPECTED ACCEPTANCEWe read in Luke 2 about the night when the angels arrived to share with the shepherds the announcement that the Savior had been born. It was unexpected. Shepherds were social outcast, considered unclean because of their occupation. Yet God chose them - the least likely, to be the first to hear this Good News.That is Unexpected.Yet throughout scripture we continue to see a God who accomplishes and does the unexpected.I love what Ephesians 3:20 teaches us about expectation:Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. (emphasis mine)Paul reminds Jesus followers that He is able, not just to do more. He reminds believers that God can do far beyond what we would expect - and we should expect it!One of the lessons we learn from the arrival of Jesus: Expect the Unexpected.