Paul Tripp: Following God will always bring a life of surprises because God is in charge and we are not. And, in the middle of God being in control, we are always interpreting His control in some way.

Kate Crowley: From Paul Tripp Ministries, this is Right Here, Right Now, connecting the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life. Here, now, is Paul Tripp.

Paul Tripp: Think with me as I ask you these questions. Do you like surprises? Do you revel in the unexpected? Do you love it when things in your life get shaken up? Do you like it when you've headed home, for example, for a quiet birthday supper, only to be surprised by fifty people who have been waiting in the darkness, ready to jump out at you the moment you arrive? Do you like it when you've planned to go somewhere, and the car doesn't start? Do you like it when you've made plans with a friend, only to be called at the last moment and told that they cannot make it at all? Do you like that unexpected bill in the mail? Do you like that unexpected gift in the mail? Or, do you like a life that is safe, controlled, and predictable. Do you like your life to be ordinary each day the same as the day that preceded it?

You know? You live in a world of surprises. You know, you are surprised all the time. You know you can barely predict what a day will bring, much less what a month will bring, much less what a year will bring. You know, for all of your planning, for all your careful decision-making, for all your desire to have a life that's responsible, you still get caught up short. You still are forced to deal with the unexpected. You still do get those surprises. You still do face things that shake you up. You still attempt to do something, and it doesn't work. Your life is a life of surprises. You face surprises every day. How are you doing with the surprising world that you live in?

Music: "The Seer's Tower" by Sufjan Stevens

In the tower above the earth
There is a view that reaches far
Where we see the universe
I see the fire, I see the earth

Kate Crowley: And, this is Right Here, Right Now. There's more on "God and Surprises" from the series, "May I Speak to the Manager, Please?" from Paul Tripp. I want to mention to you one of Paul Tripp's books called War of Words. In it, he explains the power of godly talk, and you can find this book along with many other resources at paultrippministries.org. That's paultrippministries.org. And now, here's Paul Tripp with more Right Here, Right Now.

Confessions of a Project-Oriented Person

Paul Tripp: I just need to admit something to you here. I'm a very project-oriented person. I'm one of those agenda-driven guys. I know exactly what I want to accomplish the next day before I go to bed. I wake up with the details of the schedule embedded in my brain. I've thought about how long each task will take and how much time I have to get from place to place between the tasks in order to get the whole list done. I know what I like. I like predictability. I like when things work the way that they're supposed to work. That's nice. It helps. I like it when God does His part to keep things going as they should, so I can do my part to accomplish the scheduled tasks. So, what this means is--I really don't like surprises.

So, I get on the plane, expecting another boring flight to speak somewhere, a task that I dearly love. The first leg of my trip is to Charlotte. Now, I live in Philadelphia, and Charlotte's not a big long ways away. It should be just a pretty boring, not much excitement, expected flight. Things seem pretty normal; we're all waiting in the gate area. Our zones are called, and we get on the plane according to our zones. The passengers get on the plane in a pretty orderly fashion, and we're actually ready for takeoff a few minutes early. I think to myself, "Ah, it's going to be good flight, having some sort of casual conversation with the person sitting next to me. This is going to be a boring, no excitement-expected flight. Just like I wanted!"

The stewardess makes a few requisite announcements, but we don't back away from the gate. I think, "Umm, I wonder what that's about?" "Oh," I say to myself, "Maybe they're just filling out the paperwork." Then we hear the captain's voice--not a good sign. You don't want to hear your captain talking to you at this time. And, the captain informs us that we have a problem.

I think, "I don't believe it! It's a flight to Charlotte for pete's sake." Our plane that is heading for Charlotte has been fueled for San Francisco. Now, what this means is that we have 12,000 gallons of extra fuel, and this makes our plane way too heavy to land at the appointed destination. With all of that weight, it would be dangerous to land the plane. And you see, with all of that fuel, it could make it to San Francisco; it would burn the fuel on the way, and by the time it landed in San Francisco, it would be light again. We've got 12,000 extra gallons of fuel. I think, "You've got to be kidding me."

So the captain tells us that they have to pump the extra fuel out and then redistribute the remaining fuel between the two wings of the plane. Four hours later, we're ready to fly. An airline agent came in, and asked if there was any way he could help us? And a fellow passenger replied, "Bring the guy who fueled the plane in; we'd all like to talk with him for a moment."

So, how do you do when the God of glory, and wisdom, and love, and grace messes with your plans? How are you doing when things don't go the way they're supposed to go? How well are you living in this world of surprises?

Music: "On Our Way" by Christina Aguilera

Me and you, with a friend, don't always see eye to eye
You go left and I go right and sometimes we even fight
That don't mean that I won't need a friend, oh
You and me, we're in this to the end, oh
I think we're on our way
Through all the lows and highs, by my side, singing
I think we're on our way
To better days, better days, oh
Let's say we turn the page,
Move on from all the times
Should've laughed, not cried, feeling
What is there more to say?
No more to say
I think we're on our way
Yeah

God Is in Charge and You Are Not

Paul Tripp: Do you know why your life has always been and always will be a life of surprises? Here it is. Hard to face, but absolutely true, because God is in charge, and you are not. God is in charge, and you are not. When you read the Biblical history that makes up the Biblical story, you can't help concluding that following God always brings a life of surprises. Whatever plans God's people made and however they tried to figure it out, they were inevitably caught up short and avidly greeted with the unexpected. There are twists and turns in the Biblical story that you just wouldn't believe; no one would've anticipated these twists and turns. God's story consistently included things that would have been left out of the story if His people had been doing the planning.

Think about this fact. This is amazing, but this is the way the story is--Noah would never have planned for there to be a global flood; Abraham would never have planned to wait seven decades for his promised son; the Israelite children would never have planned four-hundred years of Egyptian slavery; they would have never planned to be stuck in front of the Red Sea with the Army of Egypt beating down on them; they would have never planned forty years of wandering around the desert; they would have never planned that the Promised Land would be filled with warrior nations that weren't ready to share turf with them; they would never have planned that the temple would be destroyed, and that they would be taken into captivity by pagans; they would have never planned that they would have to wait so long for the Messiah to come; the disciples never planned for the Messiah to be brutally tortured and executed right before their very eyes. The early church never planned that it would suffer such extensive persecution, and the early church never planned to scatter themselves around the globe. They never planned it all. The story is a story of constant twists and constant turns because people are not in charge; God is. Let me say it again: "God's plan, consistently, included things that would've been left out of the story if His people had been doing the planning."

Now, do you know why? Well, it's really quite obvious once you hear it said. It is because we human beings--we tend to focus on outcomes. We want things to turn out right. So we want things to go well so that they will turn out right. And although God surely does care about the end of all things, He has designs for the process as well because there are things that He wants the process to accomplish in us.

When you and I moan and complain about what we are facing, we're actually debating the wisdom for the choices that God has made for us. We actually question His wisdom way more than we think we do. And, we question His wisdom every time we moan and groan about the circumstances in our lives.

Consider Numbers 11; here's the story. The people of Israel are in the wilderness, and God is feeding them, daily, with manna. Now, they're in the wilderness because God knew that these people were not ready to go into the Promised Land, and God's in control of this whole situation, and He's teaching them lessons that are important to get. Now, what was this manna? Manna was a substance that would appear like dew in the morning that could be formed into loaves and cooked in olive oil--sort of like a Middle Eastern flatbread.

Now, the Bible says that when it was done being cooked, that it tasted like olive oil. That meant that manna didn't have a very strong flavor of itself; it was pretty boring food, and that was the only thing that Israel had to eat day after day, after day, after day. They'd never planned on eating manna. They had come out of Egypt, and this was a very different kind of food that they were living on every day, and they had it day after day, after day, after day.

So, Numbers 11 records the Israelites complaining, and as they complain, they reveal how distorted our thinking can be in these moments. First, the Israelite children, after complaining about the food that God had given them, had a distorted view of the past. They look back on Egypt, and they say, "We remember the leaks, and the onions, and the garlic." You know, when they think of Egypt, rather than thinking of it as a place of slavery and death, it sounds like it was a Deli, and they say, "We had this food at no cost,"-The cost was death and slavery.

Not only a distorted view of the past-they had a distorted view of the present. They're looking at this manna, and they are seeing the manna as this horrible trial. In fact, the manna was a picture of God's tremendous, covenant-keeping love. God was committed to sustain His people. And if it meant making edible matter appear so that they would be able to eat, God would do that.

In fact, manna is such a clear sign of God's love--Jesus takes manna as His name. He says, "I'm the bread that came down from heaven."

Not only a distorted view of the past--and distorted view the present, but a distorted view of self. Moses helps us here. Moses, as he's facing the complaint of the people he is leading, he says to God, "If this is how you are going to treat me, take my life right now so I don't face my ruin." Moses thinks that this whole situation is on his shoulders. Somehow, he's got to figure this out, and he's not carrying these people at all; God is. Moses is overwhelmed and, literally, wants God to take his life.

But not only a distorted view of the past--and a distorted view of the present--and a distorted view of self, you see a distorted view of God. God says to Moses, "I'll feed these people. I'll give them meat to eat, and not for a day, but for a month until it comes out of their nostrils." And do you know what Moses's response is? His response is, "God, have you counted them? Have you counted them?" This is a God who has counted the hairs on the heads of the people of Israel.

But there's also a distorted view of the future. Look, if you're an Israelite, you've concluded that you can't go back to Egypt because it's a place of slavery, and you can't trust God because He puts you in this kind of awful situation. Distorted view of the past--distorted view of the present--distorted view of self--distorted view of God--distorted view of the future. It was not only the surprise of the trial; God's people even struggled with the surprising love in the middle of it.

You see, following God will always bring a life of surprises because God is in charge and we are not. And in the middle of God being in control, we are always interpreting His control in some way.

Music: "It Is Well with My Soul" by Horatio G. Spafford

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like seabillows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
"It is well, it is well with my soul.

Music: "The River's Gonna Keep on Rolling" by artist Amy Grant

You can tell someone you love 'em
From the bottom of your heart
And believe that it's the truest thing you've known
And even if you never break the promises you make
The river's gonna keep on rolling on
If you haven't got a dollar
Not a penny to your name
Somebody's gonna miss you when you're gone
And even if you never find
Just a Little Peace of Mind
The river's gonna keep on rolling on
Keep on rollin' to the ocean
Keep on rollin' to the sea
Keep on rollin' till the love we need
Washes over you and me

Surprised on a Friday Afternoon Flight

Paul Tripp: So I sat on the plane that Friday afternoon thinking, "This is great! There's no way that I'm going to make my connection, and if I miss my connection, there is no way that I'm going to make it to speak on Friday night. And if I don't speak on Friday night, there is no way that I can finish the material that the church wants me to finish on Saturday. And if I can't finish on Saturday, the event will have to be canceled." I'm seeing disaster. That's called 'catastrophising.' "And if the event is canceled, I've wasted a weekend because of the stupidity of some airline worker who wasn't paying attention to his job."

Think about this embarrassing line of reasoning. It basically proposes that there is no benefit ever to the interruption of the plan. It basically says that life is not about the process; life is only about what you get at the end of the process. This embarrassing line of reasoning basically believes that the middle, the confusing, surprising middle has no meaning or purpose greater than being a means to the end.

You see, God does some of His very best work in the middle of the process. And as it turned out, contrary to my catastrophising, the event was not canceled, and all of the material was covered. And in fact, several couples came to me who were attending the event and said, "How glad they were that Friday night was canceled, because they wouldn't have been able to come to both parts of the event as a couple." And now, because it was just on Saturday, they were able to be there for the whole thing. Perhaps it was all about just one couple who was meant to be to the whole thing. Could it be that a God of awesome love and amazing grace would manufacture that entire circumstance so that one couple could hear truths that they desperately needed to hear?

You see, there's some reason for this process; there's some reason for that event, not some reason that I understand. All I will ever have is conjecture. I don't read God's secret will, but I know who He is. I know He is a God of love. I know He is a God of wisdom. I know He is a God of grace--just the kinds of things that I forget as I'm sitting in that airplane seat in the throes of my own frustration.

You see, could it be that interruptions in the plan are not interruptions in the plan at all, but part of God's plan? Could it be that those things are only viewed as interruptions by me because I have my eye on the end, and I have forgotten the importance of the process? Could God's plan be a life of interruptions, a life of surprises because of the good things those interruptions and those surprises do in me? Could it be that these interruptions bother me so because they do something that I do not want to face? These interruptions of my plan expose the delusion of my control.

(Music Interlude)

Paul Tripp: So, how are you doing as you live right smack dab in the middle of a life of surprises? How did you do with last week's surprises? How did you do with yesterday's surprises? How are you doing with the surprises that today has already brought? Do you struggle with the way God rules His world? Do you secretly dream of a world that's under your control? Do you wish your hand was on the joystick or on the 'send' button? Do you silently question God's wisdom? Do you think that your way would have been a better way? Are you so focused on the desired goal that you have no patience for the process?

You know, it's wonderful to know that your life is not out of control. Isn't it great to know that there, in fact, is a plan? Isn't it sweet to know that the One who is in control of the plan of your life is the ultimate source of wisdom, love, power, and grace? You do not have to panic when your plans fall flat. You do not have to lose it when huge obstacles get in your way. If you are stuck on a plane, or stuck eating manna, or stuck in a restaurant line, stuck in the middle of a troublesome relationship, stuck in the middle of the job that you don't want, your life hasn't spun out of control. Your life has not spun out of control. No! There is someone who loves you, and He's working a plan. He's with you right in the middle of that plan where you live right here, right now.

Kate Crowley: Remember, God is never taken by surprise, Paul Tripp on Right Here, Right Now from the series, "May I Speak to the Manager, Please?" And be sure and tell a friend where they can hear these words of hope and encouragement. Now, sometimes it's in those places of surprise that the 'true you' pops out. You can learn how to combat those times with God-honoring thoughts and words. All that and more is found in the book, War of Words. In his writing, Paul Tripp examines the importance of mastering godly speech. That's War of Words. Log on to paultrippministries.org, all one word, paultripp, spelled T-R-I-P-P, paultrippministries.org.

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Tomorrow, more from the series, "May I Speak to the Manager, Please?" See you then. I'm Kate Crowley, and on behalf of Paul Tripp Ministries, we are reminding you that, in Jesus Christ, there really is help, right here, right now.