1 Samuel 9:5–10

When they had come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, let us return, lest my father cease caring about the donkeys and become worried about us.”

And he said to him, “Look now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honorable man; all that he says surely comes to pass. So let us go there; perhaps he can show us the way that we should go.”

Then Saul said to his servant, “But look, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread in our vessels is all gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?”

And the servant answered Saul again and said, “Look, I have here at hand one-fourth of a shekel of silver. I will give that to the man of God, to tell us our way.” (Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he spoke thus: “Come, let us go to the seer”; for he who is now called a prophet was formerly called a seer.)

Then Saul said to his servant, “Well said; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.

Saul does something impressive here; he listens to and takes the advice of his servant. That’s an important leadership skill. Saul may have a thin resume, but he has potential. The servant is impressive too. He has a good plan, and he has the things necessary to implement it. So, they’re off to see the wizard.

But the Old Testament is a plot twist factory, and their trip to see the seer won’t turn out as planned.

Yes, the donkeys will be okay, but greater things are afoot.

God’s plot twists are one of the most important, and glorious, aspects of life in Christ. The challenge for Christians is to do more than just adjust to or cope with these plot twists. We should learn to appreciate, even love them. God displays His personality and righteousness through His actions, and the actions that surprise us most contain the most information.

God appreciation is like art appreciation. If you see something in a painting that’s unexpected, even absurd, pay attention. It’s not there by accident; paintings don’t get photobombed. If you take the time to figure out what the artist is trying to communicate, you’ll get a lot more out of the art.

So it is with life in Christ. While not every little thing is a message from God, the surprising things (good and bad) often are. If you think about events the way you would analyze art, you can learn a lot.

But there’s a catch. Everyone knows that the artist painted every stroke in the painting. Not so with life. Not everyone thinks that God paints every brushstroke. Bad things happen. It’s hard to believe a good God would allow them—much less foreordain them. So, many folks conclude that these things had another source. That gives short-term comfort at the expense of understanding.

But understanding is the ultimate comfort.

These Monday—Friday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Weekend DEEPs are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to all the DEEPs click here:

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The weekly study guides, which include the Monday–Friday devotionals plus related questions for discussion or meditation, are available for download here:

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.