Surprise endings

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The Lord specializes in surprise endings. I will mention just a few:

Abraham graciously gives Lot the first pick of the real estate when they split, and Lot chooses the fertile parcel for himself. In the end, Abraham is the one who prospers, and the grabby nephew finds himself stuck in the red-light district of Sodom and ignominiously yanked out with nothing but the shirt on his back (Genesis 13, 14, 19). Abraham’s Via Dolorosa to the mount where he must slay his son Isaac for the Lord takes a strange turn when at the last minute the Lord stays his hand—and gives Abraham the biggest promise that any man has ever received in history (Genesis 22). The siege of Samaria is the scene of starvation and cannibalism, until Elisha announces that by this time tomorrow the situation will be so turned around that the price of food will immediately plummet. Woe to those who bet against the Lord’s promise (2 Kings 7). A widowed Moabitess’ chances of finding a good life in Israel are negligible, but she ends up being married to the best catch in Israel and becoming the grandmother of King David (Ruth). The wicked Haman has hatched a foolproof plan to annihilate the Jews, but in the middle of the story the plan starts to work backward, and he gets hanged on the gallows he erected for Mordecai the Jew (Esther). The early Christians are scattered hither and yon out of Israel in the persecution, and this event becomes the beginning of the spread of Christianity to the Gentiles (Acts 11:19-21).

I would like to point out that in each of the above examples, someone in the story was trusting God to bend impossibilities, and was in extreme disregard for his or her own self-interest out of love for God or another person. God loves to bless such people.

Are you experiencing seemingly insurmountable problems in your life today? In your marriage? In your children’s lives? The Lord wants surprise endings for your marriage and for your children and for your life.

“Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:3-4).

Andrée Seu Peterson

Andrée is a senior writer for WORLD Magazine. Her columns have been compiled into three books including Won’t Let You Go Unless You Bless Me. Andrée resides near Philadelphia.

Faith & Religion

Surprise endings

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