God, surprise me!

"He turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.  You are thinking not as God does but as human beings do.'"

Matthew 16:23

Jesus startles us by his touchiness here, doesn't he? After all, Peter was a human being.  And even though he had spent a good deal of time at Jesus' side, basically he was still just a guy...a fisherman.  He had expectations of what Jesus was supposed to do.  He was thinking Jesus was going to over-throw the Romans and bring about a new kingdom for Israel. That's what he was thinking.  And all this talking about Jesus going to die in Jerusalem was nonsense--wasn't it? What about the Plan? We all have expectations.  We learn as young children that first this happens, then that. We get it early on.  So when our expectations run up against an obstacle or something that doesn't fit, we protest and seek to change things back to normal--what fits with our expectations.  But God works in the unexpected.  God works in surprises.  God works to help us think outside of the box and to find joy in surprises.  God works to expand us. That is the "thinking" of God.  Human beings want the predictable, the routine.  God wants to surprise us.  Love, heidi