Suddenly

He was a good man. A godly man. A righteous man. And he never saw it coming. I’m sure he was blindsided by what happened. He prayed for his children constantly because he was concerned about their relationship with God, and for all this God blessed him. Yet, in the space a few minutes, everything he loved and held dear was wiped out and taken away from him. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m speaking of the patriarch Job. Scripture dedicates an entire book to his life and experiences.

How do we deal with the 'suddenlys' in our life?

Sudden illness; sudden problem, etc.

Suddenly= something that happens unexpectedly, without warning, unawares

God is a God of suddenly. He does not always work as we want or think.

He is a God of surprises. His suddenlys are filled with His power, His grace, His mercy, and His love. They happen with our best interests in heart.

God always operates in a realm above what we can think or imagine (Eph.3:20). This is because His thoughts and ways are so high above ours. (Isa.55:8-9)

To be surprised by or 'suddenlied' by God does not indicate a lack of faith on our part necessarily, but what it does show is that we underestimate Him.

Suddenlys happen:

-as I pray and wait

-as I'm going about my daily business

-as I'm enveloped by the enemy and find myself in difficult straits

• Suddenly #1: Acts 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

-God's suddenlys are from heaven-He is the sovereign One. Though the enemy may instigate and seem to orchestrate, it is God in heaven who regulates. Before your suddenly reaches you, it has already passed through His hands.

• Suddenly #2: Acts 9:3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven.

-God's suddenlys will change/interrupt your life. As you journey, as you're living your life, He will come. He wants to interrupt what you're doing, to show you what He's doing and wants to do in you. (In the original Gk. this is a stronger form of 'suddenly')

• Suddenly #3: Acts 16:26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's hands were loosed.

-God's suddenlys will shake you loose from the prison that holds you. Even a prison has a foundation. The foundation is what holds a thing in place and keeps it from crumbling. But His power comes suddenly and works immediately.

To be suddenlied by God always leaves us thoroughly satisfied, completely humbled, totally awed, and gloriously changed and delivered.

I respond to God's suddenly by:

-receiving them-don't reject what God has ordained for me-don't refuse what God chooses to use

-resting in them-in the fact that I am in His hands, and that His promises are true-...There remaineth therefore a rest for the people of God (Heb.4:9)

-rejoicing in them-I am to rejoice in the Lord in all things (Phil.4:4)