365: Shattering Our Expectations

What does a broken bottle have to teach us about the ways of God?   It was the first night of summer camp, the entire cabin had just arrived earlier that day and we were all still getting to know one another. As was the custom at Church Camp, the night ended with a devotional lesson from our camp counselor.    For devos that night our counselor had us walk into the woods where he gave each of us a small piece of paper and a pen. We were all asked to write down our expectations for the week– what we were hoping for, what we thought would happen, what we wanted to get out of the week.    Next, our counselor passed around an empty glass bottle. He asked us to share what we had written on the paper, and then place the paper into the bottle. After all the “expectations” had been placed in the bottle, our counselor took it, and without saying anything, he walked a few paces away from the group, and placed the glass bottle, filled with all our written expectations into a bag.    Then, still saying nothing, he took a large rock and smashed the bottle to pieces. The sound of shattering glass and the sheer volume of the event in the quiet of the woods caused a hushed silence to fall over the entire cabin group. After a long pause, our counselor explained his actions:    “All of us have a lot of expectations about this week. We all expect this week at camp to be a certain way, or for certain things to happen, but we need to remember that God is in the business of shattering our expectations.”   This was a great lesson for the all of us as we started our week at camp, and I believe it continues to be a good lesson for Christians today.   When Jesus died on the cross it seemed as if all hope was lost, as if the entire Jesus movement was ended– crushed by the Roman authorities. But instead, God shattered everyone’s expectations by using the crucifixion to defeat death once and for all.    As Christians we have a faith that is grounded in the idea that God will use the most unexpected ways and people to accomplish God’s Will. And so, when you’re expecting the worse, or things seem hopeless, remember that God is more than capable of shattering your expectations. Nate Preisinger Bethany Lutheran Church Sent with Subsplash Unsubscribe from all emails