The Unexpected House

A few years ago, I never would have imagined that more than 4 years after college I would be back in the same house I grew up in. This little dingy house sits on the wrong side of town, yet holds 27 years of both good and bad memories.

I also didn’t imagine getting married to a military man stationed overseas and not living together. Instead, I envisioned that at the ripe age of 27-years-old, I would be married and living in a beautiful home together. I suppose God does the unexpected in our lives… Sometimes He likes to shake up our plans and take us on a different ride. God does this because He knows what is best for us; His plans always end up being far better than ours.

But, what if you don’t like the unexpected? What if you’re living in the unexpected house you didn’t want for your family or you're still single and that wasn't part of your plan? What if you can’t accept the plans that He has for your life?

It’s OKAY if you can’t accept it. It can take time to adjust. Give yourself grace to slowly accept things as they come. Take a look at the women in the Bible: Mary, the mother of Jesus, was unexpectedly on the run to save her family’s lives and she rather suddenly gave birth to the son of God in a stable. Talk about the unexpected.

She probably never imagined that she would have to go through that, yet she did. She went through those hardships because she had faith. Her faith led her to one of the greatest things in life: witnessing Jesus Christ as our savior. 

Then there’s Ruth, another important woman in the Bible. She never expected her first husband to die, but God had a plan and future for her, beyond her husband´s death. Ruth married Boaz, who redeemed not only Ruth, but her mother-in-lawś family. (Ruth and Boaz beget Obed, who was the father of Jesse, who was King Davidś Father.)  (Ruth 4:1-12 NKJV). 

A few other women are worth mentioning. Esther, from the Old Testament, also had an unexpected life. She had to enter a beauty pageant to compete for the king’s heart. She surprisingly won and gained favor with the king, which helped her save her people from starving (Esther 9 & 10 NKJV).

In the New Testament, Priscilla and her husband, Aquila, were a missionary couple. Priscilla worked and traveled with her husband. Therefore, they both had the opportunity to show others the daring and beautiful possibility of men and women working together for God’s flourishing kingdom (Acts 18:1,18, 24 NKJV).

All of these women and many others in the Bible, have had to endure the unexpected; it’s a possibility that they wanted a peaceful, stable home with no troubles. However, their plans changed, they struggled, and maybe cried and feared as many of us do.

In the end, God built them a bigger life than they might have imagined for themselves; one that was meant for them because He knew that they could handle it and that it was part of a larger plan (1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV).

So, I leave you with this: next time you are about to inhabit the unexpected house you didn’t want for yourself, or, if you’re currently living in it, remember, there will be a time in your life that this unexpected house (could be a part of the bigger picture in God's plan) will become a better one when you least expect it.