Christmas to me is about paradox. I love the fact that the hope of the world did not come through some expected source like a world power or a spectacular blast from heaven. It all came down to this- a teenage mother giving birth to a child in a less-than-perfect environment. Often times, God makes no sense to us. He does things in ways that we would not expect.
This gives me great hope. I am glad that I serve a God who doesn't do things the expected way. Do we still expect God to be unexpected? Has his unpredictability changed or has God suddenly gotten predictable? I'm betting that God doesn't change. And if we believe this, then in all likelihood, he is still doing the unpredictable- even in our lives! So when we start thinking and expecting that God is going to do things the way that we expect, maybe we should start looking for the unexpected.
There is a book with this idea in mind that I read a few years ago. It is by Roger Von Oech and it is titled Expect the Unexpected (or you won't find it). In it he gives an illustration from inventor
Thomas Edison- "who had a simple test he used to measure the 'unexpectedness quotient' of prospective employees. He would invite a candidate to lunch and serve a bowl of soup.He would then watch to see whether the person salted his or her soup before tasting it. If he did, he wouldn't be offered the job. Edison felt that people are more open to different possibilities if they don't salt their experience of life before tasting it.In what ways are you 'salting the experience' before tasting it?"
How about as it relates to God? Is it possible that God might just be doing the opposite of what you are expecting just to remind you that he is God and we are not?
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