Have you figured God out? Have you heard enough about Him, studied Him enough, been around His people long enough to determine how he stands on every issue? Is He predictable, unsurprising?

I am afraid that too many of us have equated God with a church, a country, a political party, or some other group of people. We have boxed God into our own idea, or perception of Him. The early church was guilty of the same sort of behavior. They had limited God’s movement to their own people group, the Jews. They were in and everyone else was out.

Yet in Acts 10, the Spirit prompts Peter beyond his conception of God. He challenges him to rethink his expectations of God. In this week’s story, God brings two very unlikely characters together (a Roman Centurion and a Jewish fisherman). They would not have given each other a second thought if they had causally passed on the street. Even so, God brings them into the same house, sharing life together.

Just when we think we have God figured out, He surprises us. He calls us out of our comfort zone. He challenges us into a new way of thinking.

Are you following a church, a persuasive leader, a political group (or ideology), a belief system? Or are you following the Spirit of God? People and institutions will always let you down; God will always be faithful. People and institutions are fairly predictable, God is not. Let me warn you, following Him may rock your world. It did for Peter.

Join us on Sunday as we look at the story of Cornelius (Acts 10).