Expect the Unexpected

I love how God can do, and usually does, the totally unexpected. I
went to Ushindi Secondary to help Macklyn, a precious girl with one of
the sweetest spirits ever, to prepare to lead the Sunday story group.
She had never led before, but didn't hesitate to volunteer to lead the
story of the Ten Commandments. She had been studying the story all
week. She was pumped.

So Macklyn and I sat on a mat under a tree on her campus.  She told the story beautifully the very first time, with only a couple of points that needed clarification.  Then we used the SPEAK method to dissect the story, looking for sins, promises, examples, applications, and knowledge about God.  We discussed the commandments and what they mean for us today.  As we were finishing up, I asked Macklyn if she had any other questions about the story—something we hadn’t talked about yet.  Immediately, she asked me, “Why did God tell the Israelites not to touch Mount Sinai or they would die?”  (Exodus 19:12-13)  Wow!  What a great question!

We talked about God’s holiness, and what that means, and about how the people were sinful and unholy, and therefore separated from God.  How God was protecting them by warning them, because His holy nature was just too much for them.  I gave her the example of the Holy of Holies in the temple, and how the people’s sinful nature kept them from God’s presence.  And we talked about how, when Jesus died, the veil in the temple was torn, giving us total access to the God of the universe. (Luke 23:45)

I left Ushindi on Saturday thinking that Macklyn had gotten a little more theology than she had bargained for, but really excited to see her lead the next day… then again, I love anything that gets me out to USS.  It’s just a special place.

Sunday morning, I got up bright and early and made it out to Ushindi in plenty of time for the morning church service on campus.  After the worship service was finished, about 10 students gathered together under “our tree”.  Rose retold the Passover story from the week before (no small feat—it’s REALLY long!), and Macklyn moved on to the Ten Commandments.  Not surprisingly, she did an awesome job!  The story was flawless, and she did an excellent job facilitating SPEAK with the other students.  After what turned out to be a meaty discussion, Macklyn threw out one more question to the group: “Why did God tell the Israelites not to touch the mountain or they would die?”

Okay, so I guess our discussion the day before had made an impression on her.   After a few blank stares, she proceeded to explain God’s holiness compared to our sinfulness, which led to a discussion about how the death of Jesus opened access to God for us.  I did a lot of explaining about how the only thing that can reconcile us to the Father is the blood of Jesus—no deeds, no offerings, no sacrifices, just faith, which is so difficult for them to grab hold of.  Several students asked questions and made statements, and eventually one boy, David, asked, “If we’ve never asked Jesus to forgive our sins once and for all, can we do it today?”  Uh, yeah!  We talked it through a little more, and by the end of the story group, both David and Macklyn had accepted Christ!  Glory!

Lately, I’m thinking that when it comes to my wonderful Maker, it’s best to just expect the unexpected.  I mean, really… who gets saved from talking about the Ten Commandments?  And for the “leader” to be humble enough to accept Christ is a pretty big deal—especially here.  But I have to say, I love that He’s so unpredictable, and that I have no idea how His mind works.  And a part of me wants to say, “Okay, so what are You going to do next?”

And the other part of me just wants to be surprised.