"Ready, Set....SURPRISE!"

The decor. The planning. The food. The drinks. The guest list. This is what a surprise party is all about. All of these little details can take weeks, even months to plan and be sure it's carried out well. First and foremost, you have to have an accomplice, or a best friend who you can blackmail into taking on the endeavor with you. Then comes the planning: where will the party be hosted, what are we going to eat, where is it going to come from, what embarrassing game can we make the guest of honor play? Once all of that is decided, then comes my favorite part...the decor! 

In my opinion, a party isn't a party without decor. It makes or breaks the atmosphere. Nothing screams "PARTY!" like wild, obnoxious streamers, gigantic balloons, over-the-top centerpieces and party music. I have prepared for many parties in my lifetime. Whether hosting or participating, I've seen my fair share of planned parties, but until this past week I've never thrown a "surprise party." When preparing a surprise party, every detail matters and the guest of honor is always in the forefront of you mind. 


Recently, I (with the help of some wonderful ladies) prepared a Surprise 30th Birthday party for my sister-in-law. I found myself reflecting on the guest of honor quite a bit during the preparation. It took a couple of months to plan out. I analyzed every detail, questioning possibilities of restaurants or clubhouses to host the shindig, kids or no kids, the type of food she would enjoy, etc. But the question that remained constant in my mind with every decision made was this...Would this particular detail of the party cause her to stop and realize how loved and important she is?


About a week before the party, as I was tying ribbon around a handmade centerpiece, this simple little truth came to me. Isn't that what God did for us? Didn't he throw us a "surprise party" of His own?

 He found his accomplice in Jesus. He carried out a detailed plan for His Son to die a brutal death...for us. It took years to carry out this plan, but it was perfectly perfect. He kept us in the forefront of his mind as he treaded down that dark path to the cross, all the while carrying our burdens on his shoulders, knowing in the end, when we finally walked into the light, we would know His sacrifice...and we would be surprised. I believe my face was what He pictured as he suffered. I believe He saw your face in midst of the pain. He did it all for the moment we would stop everything and say, "Was all of this done just for me?" 


What a plan! It was decorated with moments of happiness, moments of anger, moments of sadness, and times of pain, but it was prepared just for us. For realization we don't have to spend an eternity without Him, for the understanding that He will not treat us as we deserve, but He will freely give us grace...that is why he saw it through til the end. On that day, 2000 years ago, He breathed His last breath, knowing we would one day walk into the Ultimate Surprise...and we would realize we are loved. We are accepted. We are His. 

"Imagine a stormy day at sea: your ship yielding to a relentless wind, pummeled by crashing waves, subject to the awesome force of nature. A force that is both fierce and majestic. A power that is nothing short of furious. Such is God’s intense love for His children.

 There is nowhere God won’t go to find us. No country too distant. No terrain too treacherous. No risk too great. It is a Father’s search for His lost son, His lost daughter. And there are no boundaries to where His love will take Him in order to find us, embrace us, and carry us home!"

New Year, New Hope. 2012.

• Moses fasted 40 days on behalf of Israel’s sin: Deuteronomy 9:9, 18, 25-29; 10:10.
• David fasted and mourned the death of Saul: 2 Samuel 1:12.
• David fasted and mourned the death of Abner: 2 Samuel 3:35.
• David fasted and mourned the death of his child: 2 Samuel 12:16.
• Elijah fasted 40 days after fleeing from Jezebel: 1 Kings 19:7-18.
• Ahab fasted and humbled himself before God: 1 Kings 21:27-29.
• Darius fasted in concern for Daniel: Daniel 6:18-24.
• Daniel fasted on behalf of Judah's sin while reading Jeremiah’s prophecy: Daniel 9:1-19.
• Daniel fasted regarding a mysterious vision from God: Daniel 10:3-13.
• Esther fasted on behalf of her people: Esther 4:13-16.
• Ezra fasted and wept for the sins of the returning remnant: Ezra 10:6-17.
• Nehemiah fasted and mourned over the broken walls of Jerusalem: Nehemiah 1:4-2:10.
• The people of Ninevah fasted after hearing the message of Jonah: Jonah 3.

New Testament

• Anna fasted for the redemption of Jerusalem through the coming Messiah: Luke 2:37.
• Jesus fasted 40 days before his temptation and the beginning of his ministry: Matthew 4:1-11.
• The disciples of John the Baptist fasted: Matthew 9:14-15.
• The elders in Antioch fasted before sending off Paul and Barnabas: Acts 13:1-5.
• Cornelius fasted and sought God’s plan of salvation: Acts 10:30.
• Paul fasted three day fast after his Damascus Road encounter: Acts 9:9.
• Paul fasted 14 days while at sea on a sinking ship: Acts 27:33-34.

You may be wondering what all that mumbo-jumbo is above. All those verses have one thing in common: fasting. If I am being honest, I will admit, there are many times I have heard about fasting and blown it off as something "religious people" do. Something that is ancient, not used in this day and time. I have fasted before. In the worst year of my marriage  I fasted three different times. Those were the no food, only water fasts. Ick! It was tough, but interesting to say the least. Something odd, almost supernatural starts to happen when you let go of your physical senses (eating, drinking, etc.). You begin to tap into your spiritual senses and it's amazing. You begin to audibly hear things from God that you'd never imagined. You start to have intense dreams and visions. It takes you to a new level with God. 

Some people fast to get attention. Some do it out of guilt. And others do it because they feel God will be disappointed in them if they don't. None of these are true. Fasting is for you. It's your opportunity to put aside the worldly things you enjoy to rediscover or deepen your relationship with God, sometimes in a way you've never experienced. Our church, Graceland, takes on the challenge of fasting each year. This year, I have decided to give up the one thing that I desire sometimes more than food itself, COFFEE. Coffee is more than just caffeine to me, it's a comfort. The warm, rich taste is exhilarating to me. God wants to be the same comfort to me. He wants to be my reason for exhilaration. Coffee is not a bad thing in and of itself. But it shouldn't ever take the place of what God is to me in my life. I know this may sound silly to you non-coffee drinkers, but it's probably similar to someone who has a problem drinking or doing drugs. I've gotten lazy with my quiet times and my blogs. Hopefully these next 13 days will jump start me this year as I put aside my coffee, and turn to the Word for my comfort. My flesh is weak, but my spirit is stronger!