Vignettes: Surprises & Look Again

 

Surprises

 

I like a good surprise
Flowers, money in the mail, time with a good friend
    The thrill of being caught
    Unaware  -  Unsuspecting
I feel excited, loved, remembered
        My heart races – a happy sound and feeling
 
A bad surprise is unwelcome
Bad news, sickness, surgery, loss
    The horror of being caught
    Unaware  -  Unsuspecting
I feel afraid, angry, overwhelmed
        My heart pounds foreboding, warning and doom
 
I am tempted to hide – to run
I want to turn back and find myself in yesterday
        Before the bad news came
 
I want to be surprised by beauty and kindness  –  by love and generosity
Pain and jealousy  –  injury and betrayal, these are surprises that hurt and sting
 
I am trying to remember
Even a bad surprise never comes as a surprise to God
        He knew  –  He has prepared  –  He sees me
When I curse in shock or yell in pain
        He already is there with kind eyes and open arms
When my heart pounds –  I want to run
        He is running too
                Not away –  but towards
                            Jesus runs to me
He knows I don’t like a bad surprise
 

 

 

 

Look Again

 

Look again at your sorrow
        I have redeemed it all
Look again at your brokenness
        I have made you whole
Pressure that once threatened to tear you apart
Has been relieved and mended smooth
 
I have added peace and new purpose
        To your places of loss and pain
I have comforted your sadness and released you into joy
Look again
 
There is evidence of new life
In the baren fields of your soul
I have been planting and tending within you
 
There is a harvest coming
You will taste and see
Redemption
 
Look again
 

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