Playing a child’s game of tag in the cover of night is a dream come true for every 16 year old boy. My confidence had grown throughout the night as I was able to out maneuver and out distance my neighborhood friends. It grew, that is, until I received a SURPRISE that has remained with me to this very day. While racing confidently through the dark as fast as possible, I had decided it would add an element of excitement to the game if I ran backwards when suddenly I ran surprisingly into a hole. It was not just any hole. It was deep. Customized to fit my speeding, arrogant foot perfectly. The surprise step into that hole not only did enough damage to my knee to change the next 12 weeks of my life, it altered the course of my physical activity to this very day. The repair and replacement of my entire knee as a 16 year old has continued to impact my daily life today as a 55 year old. This was a surprise that has rippled through my life for nearly four decades. Sometimes surprises enter our lives that create ripples that last a lifetime.
We never know what hole we will step in. It could be a heart attack or the death of a child or spouse. It could be a surprise job loss or a divorce. It could be a financial strain or just the stress of day to day living. We just don’t know where the hole will be, how deep it will be, or when we will step in it. We never know if the hole will be one we dig ourselves or a hole that someone else digs for us. All we know is that there will be surprise holes at some point. All we know is that when we are falling in we have an advocate, a friend, a counselor, a physician who will catch us at some point during our fall. We know that Jesus is perfect in his reaction to our step in the hole. He may alert us to a hole that is near and approaching or he may allow us to step in so blindly and aggressively that we experience a life altering fracture. Either way, he is present to catch us or lift us up from the bottom. He loves us with an everlasting love! In Deuteronomy 31:6 we read: “Be strong, do not panic before them. For the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
Often, when we are surprised, we are disoriented and flooded with emotions; even panic and anxiety fill our minds. When surprises strike we must remind ourselves that Christ is present. His presence can calm us. His presence can catch our fall. His presence can heal the wounds of the fall when we’ve crashed to the bottom. His presence can lift us back out of the hole. His presence can save us in every sense of the word.
Eric Bowman
Eric is our associate pastor, working with outreach and youth ministry as well as adult discipleship and growth. Eric retired from a 28-year career in public education as a high school band director in 2019 and is now living his lifelong dream as a pastor. Eric and his wife, Diana, continue to live in Henry County where they have been lifetime residents. They "raised" three children and are now making their best attempt at "raising" themselves.