HONOUR – PLEASANT SURPRISES

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Text: Ruth 2:2-5,13,15-16; Isa.64:1-5

Ruth 2:14-16

14 Now Boaz said to her at mealtime, “Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed parched grain to her; and she ate and was satisfied, and kept some back. 15 And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.”

Isa.64:1-5
64 Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence — 2 As fire burns brushwood, As fire causes water to boil — To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence! 3 When You did awesome things for which we did not look, You came down, The mountains shook at Your presence. 4 For since the beginning of the world. Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him. 5 You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. You are indeed angry, for we have sinned — In these ways we continue; And we need to be saved.

Intro
A pleasant surprise is an unexpected chance event or occurrence often with a happy or beneficial ending or effect. It could come as sudden breakthrough, promotion, profit or discovery that changes our lives and or those around us. Always, it leaves us better than we were taking us to new levels or new dimensions. It is being blessed in an unexpected way or an unexpected place or person.
Some Examples of Pleasant Surprises in life.
1928 discovery of Penicillin by Alexander Fleming
He forgot to clean his work station and close the windows before going on a 2 weeks vacation.
1886 discovery of coke (coca cola) by Atlanta Pharmacist John Pemberton who was looking for a cure for headaches.
The 1879 discovery of the principle of vaccination by Louis Pasteur after he had accidentally used a culture from an old jar to inject some chickens.
1965 discovery of Aspartame- Sweetener by John schlatter who had erroneous combined two bitter amino acids in a bid to get a cure for ulcers.
2003 chance discovery of Botox a very dangerous poison as a cure for wrinkles and spasms in controlled quantities, today it is the number one drug, used in non-surgical plastic surgery procedures.

The list can go on and on!
FROM OUR TEXT TODAY – Isa.64:1-5

Our text today reveals some things to us viz:
V1a – God is able to step into our lives suddenly
V1b&2a – He can easily breakthrough all our protective shields.
V3 – God is able to show us things we are not looking for.
V3- God can open doors that we were not even looking for or knocking at.
V2b& 4 – He does all these things that His name will be magnified and praised on the earth.
V5a – God does not need our permission to bless us.
V5b – God can choose to reward good to the good and evil to the evil.
SOME PLEASANT SURPRISES IN THE BIBLE
Jacob – Receiving Direction in life
Gen.28:11-20 –

11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” 18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. 19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on,
God graciously extended His providence by this encounter.
By this encounter he got a definite promise for God’s presence and victory no matter what was a head of him.
Jacob received a definite assurance that all things will work for good for him.
To let him know the ministry of God’s angels.
He got an opportunity to receive the covenant of his fathers and be positioned for the generational blessings.
Moses – Finding His Mission in life
Exo.3:1-4

3 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” 4 So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
Here, he received the commission for his life’s mission
It was an unexpected event in His life.
God is able to show up when we are not even looking for Him and can open doors or tell us or show us things we were not looking for.
God is able to open the doors we have shot or books we have closed or even retell stories we have cancelled in our lives.
He is able to do beyond what we can dear ask or imagine.
Ruth–Finding a spouse and bearing a son- Ruth.2:2-5,19-20
2 So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. 4 Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you!” And they answered him, “The Lord bless you!” 5 Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?”

19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of the Lord, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!” And Naomi said to her, “This man is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives.”
She just wanted to survive –and take care of her mother in-law & herself.
She was not looking for a husband
But God gave her one – a very rich Godly and influential one
By this event, the got listed in the genealogy of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Please note:
God is able to do much more than you are looking for and even give you what you may not be looking for.
He is the God of divine connections, right contacts, positioning at the right place at the right time.
As a result, therefore, as we walk with him, we should be anxious for nothing.
Peter – Receiving a blessed Destiny
Lu.5:1-11

5 So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, 2 and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. 3 Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. 4 When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” 6 And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. 7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” 11 So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him
It was just a normal business day for him and his colleagues.
He encountered Jesus all by chance.
He got a miracle he was not looking for or even expecting
God is able to do great things even with the unlearned and ignorant – Acts 4:13
Lu.5:10 – what was in him that the world would have blocked from seeing the light of the day got a mention for a future and a sure occurrence!

Getting Positioned
Psm.37:23-25- 23:
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way. 24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with His hand. 25 I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread.
Rom.8:28- 28:
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Delight in the Lord and serve Him with all your heart. Be faithful where your are now!
Jacob on the way to Laban
Moses serving Jethro
Ruth serving Naomi
Peter faithfully at his business
Remove desperation an anxiety from your life.
Trust in God’s faithfulness and expect Him to order your steps.
When things appear to be going the wrong way do what you can but allow God to manifest his sovereignty in your life –Psm.37:23c
Be open to the Holy Spirit and His now direction in your life.
Jacob recognized God’s presence
Moses — He turned aside to see
Ruth — followed Naomi’s advice
Peter — gave all to the Lord

Never be too busy before God to yield to His new directions in your life.
Remember – It is only God that can make us find our destinies in the “wrong places” of life
Conclusion
Allow God to lead and chance on you because a lot of the good things that He has lined up for you may have been hidden in the “wrong”-places, people or circumstances. Never forget –Ecc.9:11

Dr. Udoh
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