11.06.07

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” - Matthew 19:23-26 NKJV.

What would you think if a 600 or so pound cow suddenly dropped on the hood of your vehicle? It happened to Charles and Linda Everson while they were on a trip to celebrate their first wedding anniversary at Manson, Washington. The cow fell some 200 feet off of a cliff. It does seem strange, because unlike sheep, cows usually have more brains than that. The cow as you would expect suffered severe injuries, along with the Everson’s minivan. The Eversons somehow escaped having any injuries. One official said that they had escaped being killed by only inches. Charles Everson kept saying, “I don’t believe this. I don’t believe this.” Most of us would find it hard to believe too, I know I would.

Jesus told in Matthew 19 of how hard it is for a rich person to be saved. It was hard then and it is still hard today for someone who has a great amount of wealth to be saved. Because, those people with great wealth tend to trust in their wealth instead of God. However, as Jesus pointed out, with God it is not impossible. It may be unexpected, but not impossible. We often hear about how God is in the business of making the impossible possible. He is also in the business of making the expected turn into the unexpected; so much so that we walk away saying, “I don’t believe this. I don’t believe this.”

Now, I do not believe God caused the cow to fall off the cliff onto the Eversons minivan, but it is very likely that He had something to do with their miraculous escape from injury; that escape from injury would be completely unexpected. I am not a good enough mathematician to calculate the odds of a cow falling from a 200-foot cliff onto a minivan traveling at x number of mph/kph not killing the occupants of the vehicle. My guess would be that the odds would be astronomical for such a thing to happen. I have never even heard of a cow falling off of a cliff onto a moving vehicle before, have you? Totally unexpected....

What did the sailors expect would happen when they threw Jonah overboard? The great fish swallowing Jonah was very unexpected. What did all of David’s family, the Israelites and the Philistines expect to happen when the shepherd boy walked out to face the giant Goliath? They expected David to be slaughtered, and for the Philistines to overcome the Israelites. The impossible became possible, and the expected disappeared, as the unexpected became reality. All through the Bible, what people expected was swallowed up in the unexpected becoming reality.

What are you facing in your life? What is going on in your life? Your expectations could very well be swallowed up by the unexpected of God’s hand upon your life. Are your expectations the same as that of God? Why not ask Him? You may be surprised to find the unexpected taking place in your life.