MARVELOUS

My word for today is "Marvelous" it means:
1. Exciting wonder or surprise, astonishing, wonderful
2. Partaking of the character of miracle or supernatural power, incredible, so improbable as to defy belief

Revelation 15:3 ..." and they sang the song of Moses, the bondservant of God, and the song of the Lamb saying "Great and MARVELOUS are Your works, O LORD God, the almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of  the nations!"

Gods ways are Marvelous, surprising, miraculous, He loves to surprise us, to do the impossible!

I love my kids birthdays, and I love Christmas. These holidays are like a treasure hunt for me because I am out for the "Wow factor" I always want to surprise them with something awesome that they didn't think they would ever get, or something I know they will love but they themselves have never seen before. I love the anticipation of the delight they will have when the gift is revealed. The eyes get big, the voice gets a little higher, their delight just bubbles over and I feel so happy and content to "Wow" them. We can always tell how much they love it by the amount of "thank you's" we get. It is all they can do to express their gratitude with a hug and a thank you and a wow and another thank you.

I think I inherited this trait from my Heavenly Father. He plans on ways to "Wow" me. He gives me things I didn't expect from Him, like a marriage healthy and whole after being destroyed by addiction. Like 2 healthy babies after years of drug addiction and abortion. Like sending me to Bulgaria year after year and even being able to go as a family. That was a huge MARVELOUS gift to all of us. And lets not forget the "little' things. Like the year we went whale watching and spent hours on the boat and saw nothing, then on our way back in, towards the end of the day, it was as if God said to the angels "watch this" and a bunch of dolphins came up and swam the way back to shore with us. I could just sense the big smile on God's face cause He knew we would all go "WOW". There were times when we didn't know how the bills would get paid, we didn't have money for milk, we didn't know if our wayward child would go head long into self destruction. I have seen friendships restored, family reunited, dark and broken places in my heart healed. And each time I went "WOW' and poured out my "thank you's" to the LORD..... BUT I forget.

I forget in the midst of my need, in the midst of my struggle that God delights to do the impossible. That He loves to surprise me with His MARVELOUS ways, and I fret. What if He won't come through for me, what if I hope for something He won't deliver, what if He wants me to learn a lesson so He makes me suffer with no way out? What I am really saying is "What is God lets me down?" and how silly that sounds to me when I say it out loud.  Because He has done the most MARVELOUS thing of all. He has adopted me into His family and He has made the way for me to be set free from my own selfish nature. He prepares a home for me, that is better then the best this world has to offer.

I don't give my kids everything they want. Sure when birthdays and christmas come I ask them what they want and I take it into consideration, but I don't just go get what they want and say there you go.  Instead I search for those things that do more then give them what they want, I search for those things that bring a sense of celebration to the holiday. Maybe a trip, or  the making of a memory, maybe a gift, or something that they can use to grow as a person, to improve on a talent.  God does not give me everything I want for His own good reasons, but He does do "great things, unfathomable, and wondrous works without number" (Job 9:10) in my life. And it just wants to make me say thank you over and over!

How about you? Has God done MARVELOUS things in your life recently? Are you hoping for what you think is impossible? Hoping for a miracle? Do you believe He can do the impossible but are afraid He will let you down? Do you know that "Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him" do you believe it to be true for you? (1 Corinthians 2:9)

I can see Him now, planning the way He will surprise you, at the moment He reveals His MARVELOUS work, He is saying to the angels "watch this" as He waits for the huge smile on your face, (or the huge sigh of relief) and the many "thank you's" you will say to Him, when He delights your heart with the impossible.

"For nothing is impossible with God" Luke 1:37