Surprises Instead of Agendas

If I was writing a Christmas List this year, I would put Surprises at the top of my list. I love a really good surprise. The kind that stops you in your tracks . . . leaves you speechless . . . standing in the middle of suspended reality for an unbelievable moment.



I find it interesting and very satisfying, however, that real surprises are nothing like the ones depicted in all of the popular holiday movies. Don’t get me wrong, I love watching holiday movies. I plan to sit in front of our stone fireplace tonight . . . wrapped in my favorite blanket . . . in the company of my husband of 27 years . . . cuddling three small, fluffy poodles . . . sipping hot apple cider . . . and watch a couple of heart-warming Christmas movies. But real-life surprises are so much better than movie ones. Mostly because they are real.


Agendas, I believe, are the evil Archenemy of surprises. Agendas are too predictable. Too explainable and planned. They crowd out serendipity and leave no room for pure, unexpected amazement. They lurk secretly in the dark recesses of our psyche, adding their own twist to everything we do. Agendas insist they are right. They are cocky and overly assertive. They crave conformity. They demand control. Agendas feed off of the praises and discipleship of devoted underlings. And they can be very, very vengeful if they are threatened.


I am not saying that I have no schedules or lists of chores in my life. I live on a farm and we run a family business. There are always things that need to be done and lists of chores that need to be checked off. I am also not saying that I have no dreams or hopes in my life. There are still lots of things I want to learn. Places I would love to visit. Things I would love to do.


I am just saying that I don’t like the lurking menace of agendas. They tend to set up secret idolatries in our hearts that completely squelch the fresh, surprising, unexpected Life of God.


When you have an agenda . . .
a pet belief
or a particularly beloved revelation
or a self-proclaimed system
or a well-orchestrated plan . . .
it inevitably shrinks God.

The agenda requires God to fit a special set of rules. He must comply with certain expectations and He must work within a circumscribed set of parameters. Agendas interpret Biblical Truth in “special” ways that enslave God’s Word to man’s direction and will. Eventually, agendas enslave people too.

I don’t like things that make God small.
God is bigger.
And God is more.
He is bigger than any agenda and more than any religious system.


I want to live an agenda-less life.


I want to wake up every morning and know that my God is so vast that I will never plump beyond the depths of His love nor ascend past the heights of His faithfulness.


I want to look into a manger and see a King.

I want to look at a crown and see a servant.

I want to kneel in submission with a heart that soars on wings of freedom.

I want to succumb to the awe and reverence of a life that has nothing to prove and heaven to gain.

I want to rejoice in the surprise and celebration that comes from simple, daily fellowship with the God that is more than I can ever fully grasp.


Without an agenda, I can be an empty vessel.
Fashioned by the Master Potter.
Filled by the overflowing of a Father’s Heart.
Poured out by the compassionate ministry of nail-scarred Hands.


An agenda-less life is a surprised life.


Perhaps that’s what God had in mind when He sent His son . . . King of Kings and Lord of Lords . . . to be born in the small town of Bethlehem. To a virgin. Into the family of a simple carpenter. Cradled in a bed of straw. Among stable animals. Beneath a brilliant, starry night. Worshipped by shepherds and non-Hebrew magi.


The Treasure of eternity swaddled in commonness.


Surprise indeed.