Tearfund Lent Devotional Day 7

The unexpected God

‘Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…’ (Ephesians 3:20, NIV)

I don’t often like the unexpected. In life I much prefer an organised to-do list and honed daily rhythms.

But, some of my most profound experiences of God have been at the most unexpected times and places.

I have been most surprised by God’s presence when I have let down the walls in my heart that divide life into neat, expected compartments. I used to search for God in the lofty and significant places, thinking that my everyday, ordinary life was unimportant. Yet, the reality of the gospel is that God inhabits our whole hearts, and our whole lives are transformed by his love.

Since I realised that my whole life was a living sacrifice to the one who made me, God has revealed himself in unexpectedly ordinary ways.

Is your whole heart open to God today? What a gift that he wants the whole thing.

Dear God, thank you that you inhabit our whole hearts, and the ordinary, everyday stuff of our lives. Thank you that you transcend all of the boxes that we try to keep you in, surprising us with your love and grace, time and again. May our transformed hearts lead to a transformed world. Amen.

Lauren Agnew

Lauren works in Tearfund’s Northern Ireland Team