Surprise, Shock and Awe

From My Perspective - - -

In the 1960s, a popular situation comedy caught the attention of Americans; it was Gomer Pyle, USMC. The description of the program is: “Gomer Pyle was the simple-minded gas station attendant and later auto mechanic in the American TV sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, played by Jim Nabors. He continued the character in Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. from 1964-69. Gomer Pyle was a good-natured, naive country-boy, characterized by his childlike innocence and his pronounced accent. He lived in the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina and worked at Wally's Filling Station where he took up residence in the back room. He was often awestruck by the simplest of things, resulting in the exclamation of his catch-phrases, Shazam!, Gaaw-aawl-ly and Surprise, surprise, surprise!”

In our rapidly moving world, it hardly leaves any room for the Gomer Pyle types today – innocent, simple, naïve, easily surprised… The newsmakers and the muckrakers stay busy churning out their view of life and the world with their long-standing biases and pontifications. Scandal is great for the news cycle. It gets the attention of the Media (scandal becomes the lead story) and it sells magazines and newspapers. There is also the speculative scandal that proves to be merciless and relentless. Truth is not the issue! Smearing an Opponent or an opposing view is the objective! The lead listing on a Google Search about Sarah Palin is: “Palin pregnancy news knocks GOP team off-message.”

And the link takes one to Newsday.Com where they write: “Sarah Palin was on a roll, fresh-faced and fiery, just the boost of energy John McCain's slow-but-steady campaign needed. Now that's over. So far anyway, it doesn't look as if news that Palin has a pregnant teenage daughter is enough to knock her off McCain's ticket. But the news does seriously knock Palin and McCain off-stride and off-message - just as they were trying to introduce her to a broader audience - and just as the public was trying to fix an image of Palin as a would-be vice president in their minds. No matter how sympathetic voters are to her plight or how much parents might believe it could happen to their daughters, this is not what McCain's camp wanted people to hear in the first 72 hours after introducing Palin. It changes the story line from [Republicans] cheering to “let’s look at the real Sarah Palin”… It puts a stall in her momentum." The prognosticators would love to pretend that this is a damaging surprise and a shocking event rather than the realities of life are no respecter of persons.

In the spiritual realm we are cautioned and warned about the forces and purposes of evil. I Thessalonians 5:14, “But you are not in darkness…for that day to surprise you like a thief.”, and in II Corinthians 11:14-15, “…Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.” In other words, don’t be among those who feign innocence and who cloak themselves with naiveté.

Consider these things with me - - - The greatest “surprise” of all is found in the truth of I Corinthians 15:10, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain…” It is not a surprise that temptations are so powerful and the pressure to yield to them is so great. The “surprise” is the intervention of God’s Grace that leads one away from the temptation and into a closer relationship with Jesus Christ – who alone gives the victory!