Most of us arise every morning assuming it will be just another day. But sometimes it isn’t. Just ask this lady who experienced one of life’s bizarre “suddenlies”…
Leighann Niles was traveling down a highway this summer in northwest Ohio when suddenly, a fish crashed through her windshield. It wasn’t hurled off an overpass; it didn’t bounce out of the back of a truck – it just fell out of the blue.
This was no guppy or goldfish – this was a substantial fish. A real lunker. A Lake Erie freshwater drum, also known as a “sheepshead.” Where the heck did it come from? A bird dropped it. From 40 feet in the air, an eagle dropped his entrée and pretty much ruined Ms. Niles’ day. She said the fish hit her windshield like a brick, shattering the glass and her nerves.
I bet she hated calling her insurance company.
“That’s right, sir … a really big fish … through my windshield … yes sir, right through it … uh huh, from the sky … an eagle … … a big fish and an eagle … no, me either … yes, that’s what I’m thinking, too … pretty darn fluky, yes … no, my luck isn’t usually this bad.”
When she got up that morning, I bet Ms. Niles wasn’t worried about a fish pummeling her car. In fact, she had probably never given that particular worry one second of thought in her entire life. And then, “BAM!” – that old sheepshead did a half-gainer into her windshield.
It was a most unpleasant “suddenly”… for Ms. Niles, the fish and, let’s not forget, the eagle who lost his lunch.
We all have “suddenlies” in our lives; not all are traumatic – some are downright glorious. A ho-hum day becomes the day everything changes. The Bible recounts many such days …
On a typical day in the “back side of the wilderness,” Moses was tending sheep like he’d been doing for 40 years. Suddenly, he encountered an unnaturally burning bush and heard the voice of God Almighty. His flock grew from a few sheep to hundreds of thousands of God’s chosen people who sought greener pastures in the Promised Land.
A sickly woman had been a social outcast for a dozen years, “suffering much at the hands of physicians.” She heard Jesus was in the neighborhood, so she elbowed her way through the crowd simply to touch the hem of His garment. She desperately grabbed His robe, His power flowed into her body and suddenly, she was healed.
A boy headed off with his sack lunch to listen to Jesus teach. Suddenly, the guys with Jesus wanted his lunch. The little boy handed over his fish and bread and watched Jesus feed more than 5,000 people with it. What a day!
Saul was on his way to do what he did every day – capture and imprison Christians. Just another day in the persecution business. Suddenly, he was flattened by a blinding light and the voice of God. It was the first day of the rest of his life as Paul, a passionate follower of Jesus Christ.
God can burst onto any scene and change everything. Nothing is impossible; nothing is hopeless; nothing is permanent.
“Just another day” may turn out to be so much more than that.
“Ah, Sovereign LORD, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for You.” (Jeremiah 32:17)