April 22nd
Read: Acts 9:1-22; 8:26-40; Luke 5:27-28; 19:1-10
Saul of Tarsus, Philip the Evangelist, Levi the tax collector, and Zaccheus all had something in common … an unexpected occurrence which changed their lives or the life of someone else. Saul became the Apostle Paul, his life turned completely around after he met the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. Philip was carried by the Holy Spirit away from a successful evangelistic campaign in Samaria to a desert road in Gaza where he ministered to an Ethiopian eunuch and brought him to Christ. Levi, a dishonest tax collector if he was like the rest, became Matthew, the apostle who wrote the first Gospel. Zaccheus, that wee little man, climbed a tree, had Jesus invite himself to dinner at his house, and was an honest man once more.
What sort of life changes have occurred in your life when the unexpected came along?
THE UNEXPECTED
The unexpected may delay
The things you plan to do today,
May change the course on which you’re bent,
May even thwart your grand intent.
The unexpected may beget
New purpose or help you forget
Old hurt or sorrow you have known
Or let you reap some love you’ve sown.
The unexpected may be God
Directing you to go abroad
Or guiding you to stay at home
When greener pastures you would roam.
When the unexpected is bestowed
As you walk your Damascus road,
Open self; new courses chart;
Let Him incline your striving heart.
Prayer: Thank You Lord, for jolting me out of my ruts in reaction to the unexpected events You bring into my life.
