Calling No.246 - Expecting the Unexpected

Our lives here on Earth are rarely predictable. Things can suddenly occur which knock us out of our normal orbit of being. And so it proved last week when my owner suddenly faced an unexpected drama at some unearthly hour in the night….

He was alone in the house and had been in a very deep sleep. It was a hot, sultry night, so he’d gone to bed without wearing any pyjamas. Goodness knows what time it was, but in the pitch black, he came to the surface after hearing a noise in the room. Or so he thought. He listened again, and then clearly heard a quiet movement around the foot of his bed. And so he came to the shocking realisation that there was an intruder in the bedroom! In a split second, he catapulted himself out of the bed, turned on the light switch and prepared for a fight, (still with no clothes on). But instead of a burglar, there in front of him was a neighbour’s cat which had somehow come in through the first-floor bedroom window. It’s difficult to judge who got the greater fright. Well, actually, it was probably the cat, who on seeing a naked man bearing down on him, took a flying leap back out through the window. And so my owner learnt the lesson that in life, we always have to expect the unexpected.

Following the Christian faith is a bit like that as well. Jesus was anything but the Messiah that everyone expected. He didn’t take on the Romans; He didn’t rub shoulders with the high-ranking elite of Jewish society. No, instead He spent most of His time with the poor, the sick, the sinners and the down-and-outs. And what about today? How many of us live out our lives following our own pre-planned route? I mean, who would have guessed that I’d become the most successful blogger in the history of Christian parrots? And that’s because if God and Jesus have anything to do with it, we find ourselves taking unexpected twists and turns, forks and detours. There is so much for us all to learn, to experience and to live through during this journey called ‘Life’. But even when we are confronted by the greatest challenges and biggest difficulties, we are never abandoned or left on our own. Somebody is watching our every step and willing us on to the finish line. And there is no soul too dirty to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus.

“Being a Christian parrot doesn’t change what you deal with. It changes how you deal with it.”

(Coco the Parrot: [2000-present]: Taken from his ‘Annals of Feathery Wisdom’.)

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Deuteronomy 31:8)

“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”

(Proverbs 19:21)