The surprise of good news
Good news comes to us as a surprise. The relief it brings is unexpected. Its joy cannot be rehearsed. While we can’t get enough good news, neither can we control it. We can hope and pray for it, but good news comes in its own time and in its own way. The surprise is this: the good news comes to us and not the other way around.
Sadly, good news can be missed! If we assume the worst and invest our-selves in false scenarios, we may fail to recognize the good news we need. If we are dead set on a specific outcome and good news points us to some-thing else, we may actually dismiss it altogether. And who can afford that?
The good news of Jesus Christ is surprising because it cannot be controlled, only received. His grace is given to the undeserving, and his mercy often takes a path we had not considered or even ruled out.
Taking Jesus at his word puts us in a position to receive the good news. It may not be what we expected, but by trusting Him who is the Author of good news, our distress can be turned into thanksgiving!
In John 4:46-53, a dad left home to fetch the miracle worker, Jesus, and bring him back home to his gravely ill son. It never occurred to him that Jesus might not make that house call. Nevertheless, when Jesus said, “Go back home, your son will live,” the dad did. That’s when this story kicks into high gear. The dad’s journey home goes hand-in-hand with our own journeys. While we are on the way, we too must choose to take Jesus at his word.
The official’s son was healed before he got home, but the journey itself prepared the dad for much more. The next time he felt over-whelmed, or horrible news descended upon him, he would remember the day he took Jesus at his word, and how that made all the difference.
You know how quickly life can turn sideways. There are always unforeseen reversals, anxious moments, and urgent emergencies that blind-side us. We can’t escape them, but if we take Jesus at his Word, we won’t miss the good news that pursues us all the days of our lives.
—Greg Luce