My devotion this morning described C.S. Lewis’ conversion to Christianity. Lewis was an English professor and a devout atheist. He began to study the Bible in order to disprove it. He later wrote, “I became convinced it was true. I admitted that God was God and at that moment I was the most dejected and reluctant convert in all of England.” Then he found that “following Jesus was just the opposite of what I had expected. I was surprised by joy that I had never connected to faith in God.”
This morning before that devotion, I found a bank pouch with my check book in it for which I had been frantically searching for several days. Without going into detail, I found it in the most unexpected place; a place I would have never placed it. So I too was “surprised by joy”. As I read that devotion, I was reminded of the parables Jesus told of the lost lamb, the prodigal son and this parable of the lost coin (Luke 15:8-10). “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” The only joy greater than finding something that was lost is the joy you feel when you are the one who is found.
I have discovered in my years as a Christian that God is full of surprises. Deep down I believe “with God all things are possible,” but for some reason I am surprised each time He proves it to me. One of my favorite gospel songs tells us, “Expect the unexpected when God’s about to move. He will meet our every need in ways we wouldn’t choose. Be still and know He’s in control; His power will come through. Expect the unexpected and watch what God will do.” Following Jesus presents us with a lot of experiences, but boredom is certainly not one of them.