Heading out for church, our car started around a blind corner not far from home when my husband started to drift into the opposite lane.

We had traveled this road many times.

It felt familiar.

Still, I was startled and gasped.

“Be careful! You don’t know what’s around the corner!”

As we came up on the straightaway, we could see another car coming towards us in the distance.

I love how God meets us in our everyday routines and speaks.

Sometimes, we start down the road believing we know what’s around the corner.

Our day is planned out, scheduled with routines that feel familiar and comfortable.

We may even drift out of our lane a little, feeling safe because we believe we know what’s coming next.

In truth, we don’t always know what’s around the corner.

A weather delay that sets us back a few days.

The loss of a job that puts our finances in disarray.

The unexpected death of a loved one that turns our world upside down.

Life is unpredictable.

Look at the disciples.

One day Peter and Andrew were casting their nets.

James and John were in the boat with their father.

Matthew was sitting at his tax collector’s booth.

And Jesus finds them there.

In the familiar routines of the day.

Let’s look at what scriptures say about these encounters.

 “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed Him.

 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.” Matthew 4:18-22 NIV

 “As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” He told him, and Matthew got up and followed Him.” Matthew 9: 9 NIV

Not knowing what is around the corner or seeing what was ahead of them, these men said yes.

At once.

Immediately.

They leave the comfort and familiarity of their routines and turn the corner.

Because even if they did not know what lied ahead, they trusted the One who was leading them.

What a model of surrender and trust.

Friends, I do not know what you have encountered this year.

But God sees every twist and turn in our lives.

“O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

    you discern my thoughts from afar.

 You search out my path and my lying down

    and are acquainted with all my ways.”  Psalms 139:1-3 ESV

There is comfort in that.

And when life takes an unexpected turn, it is the hope that we have in Christ that helps us to keep moving.

Jesus knew what was around the corner.

Humiliation.

Pain.

Betrayal.

“ Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around Him. They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on His head. They put a staff in His right hand. Then they knelt in front of Him and mocked Him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on Him, and took the staff and struck Him on the head again and again. After they had mocked Him, they took off the robe and put His own clothes on Him. Then they led Him away to crucify Him.” Matthew 27: 27-31 NIV

And He willingly went to the cross to take our place anyway.

There is no greater love than this.

When we think that no one can understand our pain, Jesus does.

The day is coming when there will be no more pain and no more tears.

In the distance, we can see that our Savior will return.

It is promised in His Word.

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

 But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, 

nor the Son, but only the Father.  Be on guard, keep awake. 

For you do not know when the time will come. “

Mark 13:31-33 ESV

May we cling to that hope and promise this Easter and always.

It’s just around the corner.