How do you respond to the unexpected?

If you are like me, one of the first tasks that is tackled after coming back from traveling is going through the piled-up mail.

It can be a bit overwhelming and for me this go around was a doozy of a stack. Along with some bills needing immediate attention there happened to be a jury summons with my name on it. My heart sank as I opened the summons. The appearance date had LONG passed.

I know there are a few excuses and postponement options for a jury duty summons but I have no idea what happens when you don’t respond AT ALL. I looked up my juror number online to see if I could get more information and it turns out that the case up for trial had been settled and I hadn’t needed to appear. Whew. Crisis averted. Thank goodness.

This incident got me thinking about how often my present circumstances are set in motion well in advance of my knowledge of them, not to mention beyond my control. Like a jury summons that was sent months ago unbeknownst to me. I am thankful that it wasn’t something I had even thought of as a possibility.

I still don’t know what happens when you miss appearing for an active trial but I will cross that bridge when I come to it. Right now, I am electing to bask in the peace of the future unknowns. I have faith that even though I may not know what is to come, God does and He is in control of it all.

Reflection:

How do you respond to the unexpected?

How much time do you spend in thoughts of “what if” of the future and “if only” of the past?

Is any worry or anxiousness you have right now about a future possibility or present reality?

What is God asking you to do today?

Scripture

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:34

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world give do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27