Book Review: Unexpected – meganstrange.com

“Whether we ever understand why, the only way to overcome any unexpected shock is through. No matter how much we wish we could go around a situation, under it, over it, or be delivered from it, there are times God wants to walk us through a process, because that is what’s best for us.” Christine Caine, Unexpected

I hope that when I get to heaven that Christine Caine is one of my neighbors. She is one spunky lady…she calls it like it is and treasures Jesus in a way that just causes the reader to want to know more about Him. Caine is an incredible story teller because of her passion for the way the Lord is growing her. I have enjoyed reading and blogging reviews about some of her earlier books: Unashamed, Undaunted, Unstoppable. Her enthusiasm for sharing the gospel continues in her latest work, Unexpected: Leave Fear Behind, Move Forward in Faith, Embrace the Adventure. Christine’s engaging way draws the reader in to the stories she shares which gives her one opportunity after another to point straight to the truth of God’s word. This is definitely one of those books that had me making notes to share with people close to me who are walking through difficult days. The theme of this one…God is faithful. Trust the process.

I highlighted several things while reading and have posted those notes below…

To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect. —OSCAR WILDE Location: 274
We cannot shrink back in fear and go forward in faith at the same time. We cannot settle for our less and pursue his more at the same time. It’s just not possible. Location: 306
What is possible is accepting his gracious invitation to trust him more in the face of our pain. Location: 308
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. HEBREWS 11:8, emphasis added Location: 318
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. ROMANS 4:18–21 Location: 329
He didn’t deny the facts of his circumstances, but he refused to believe they were the whole truth because they did not account for God’s promise. Location: 335
I know he created you on purpose, for a purpose—and he never wants fear of the unexpected or from the unexpected to hold you back. Location: 379
True stability results when presumed order and presumed disorder are balanced. A truly stable system expects the unexpected, is prepared to be disrupted, waits to be transformed. TOM ROBBINS Location: 386
But as surprising as the unexpected is, we need to remember that our unexpected is never unexpected to God. Location: 477
I had learned that we either feed fear or we feed faith, and that I had the power to choose which one I would feed. So, I fed my faith. Location: 535
Whether we ever understand why, the only way to overcome any unexpected shock is through. No matter how much we wish we could go around a situation, under it, over it, or be delivered from it, there are times God wants to walk us through a process, because that is what’s best for us. Location: 544
Moving through is about continuing to live a life of purpose and passion—of always moving forward, never losing sight of your objective—no matter how devastating the unexpected is. Location: 550
“Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death . . . Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4 NKJV, emphasis added). Location: 569
I believe it’s time for us to get good at navigating the unexpected, to embrace and understand that through unexpected occurrences in life—both good and bad—we need to trust God, anticipating him to move in it while he moves us through it. We need to realize that he never expected us to live boring and predictable lives, even though we work hard to create regular routines. He’s called us to live lives full of joys and sorrows, battles and celebrations, successes and failures, ups and downs. And he wants us to learn how to live expecting to gain from the unexpected, especially as the world grows ever more chaotic and unpredictable. Location: 607
What can we expect from God based on the truth of His word?
- We can expect that his grace will be sufficient for us (2 Corinthians 12:9).
- We can expect that he will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).
- We can expect that he is working all things together for our good and his glory (Romans 8:28).
- We can expect that no weapon forged against us will prevail (Isaiah 54:17).
- We can expect to be more than conquerors through Christ Jesus who strengthens us (Romans 8:37).
- We can expect that greater is he that is in us than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).
- We can expect our God to be for us (Romans 8:31).
- We can expect God to be our very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1).
- We can expect God to care for us (1 Peter 5:7).
- We can expect Jesus Christ to be consistent (Hebrews 13:8).
- We can expect streams in our desert (Isaiah 43:19).
- We can expect impenetrable walls to come down (Joshua 6:20).
- We can expect God to make a way where there is no way (Isaiah 43:16).
- We can expect our mourning to turn to gladness (Psalm 30:11).
- We can expect our sorrow to be turned to joy (Psalm 30:11).
- We can expect our broken heart to be bound up (Psalm 147:3).
- We can expect deliverance from our enemies (Psalm 60:12).
- We can expect our giants to be defeated (1 Samuel 14:47).
- We can expect that no temptation will be more than we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13).
- We can expect that he who promised will be faithful (Hebrews 10:23). Location: 625
The unexpected is usually what brings the unbelievable. —MANDY KELLOGG RYE Location: 674
Fear can diminish our willingness to risk. To dream. To try again. To believe again. Instead of declaring, we question. Instead of standing, we shrink. Instead of persevering, we quit. Instead of trusting, we worry. Instead of resting in God, we exhaust ourselves. Location: 737
But fear is not from God, and it’s not more powerful than God. He knew it would come to steal our peace, not once or twice, but constantly throughout our lives. So, in his great mercy and faithfulness to us, God made a way for us to be more than equipped to overcome its effects and walk in faith. He gave us three offensive weapons to lean into when we’re attacked: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV, emphasis added). Location: 751
God wants us to believe his love, walk in his love, and be mentally at peace. That’s the third weapon, which is having a sound mind. He doesn’t want us to live tormented by fear’s driving thoughts that lead to so much worry and stress. God has larger shoulders than we do, and he wants to carry our concerns for us. But we have to mentally hand them over to him. We have to cast our cares on him in prayer.5 We cannot control the uncontrollable, but we can entrust all of it to God. Location: 771
Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You. When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. PSALM 61:1–2 NKJV Location: 827
When we feel like we’re losing heart, God wants us to lean into him: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33) Location: 835
Imagine if in every fearful situation, we could be so anchored in God that the fruit of the Spirit were simply our most authentic response. Imagine if we displayed:
- Love in the midst of indifference
- Joy in the midst of sorrow
- Peace in the midst of chaos
- Patience in the midst of frenzy
- Kindness in the midst of cruelty
- Goodness in the midst of evil
- Faithfulness in the midst of carelessness
- Gentleness in the midst of hardness
- Self-control in the midst of a world spiraling out of control Location; 875

Imagine how free we’d feel if we learned to truly believe that in every situation, trust was the antidote to fear, that consciously trusting God would cause our moments of anxiety and panic to be short-lived. Imagine if we could grow to a place where trusting him was our first reaction. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5–6). Location: 886
When we partake in Christ’s sufferings, we resist the temptation of limiting God to our present understanding, believing that he is writing the story of our lives that will inevitably lead to a conclusion of victory. Location: 918
Most people want to be circled by safety, not by the unexpected. The unexpected can take you out. But the unexpected can also take you over and change your life. Put a heart in your body where a stone used to be. —RON HALL Location: 961
No wonder Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” (Mark 10:15). If we are going to fulfill our purpose and keep on loving the adventure, then we must accept that some things will break down along the way. Location: 1,105
Do we trust that God is who he says he is? Do we trust that God will do what he says he will do? Do we trust that God is working all things together for our good and his glory? Do we trust that he who promised is faithful? Location: 1,128
What one experience has stopped you in your tracks? What one experience has shaken you to your core and stolen all your confidence? What one experience have you believed disqualifies you for the purpose to which God called you? Do you see how it’s what we do with our disappointments that determines our destiny? If we don’t go through our hardships, we may move on in years, but our life stops at the point of our greatest disappointment. Location: 1,207
Has it ever occurred to you that, if you’ll revisit your disappointment, God can give you a new perspective on it—one that can become a tool to help others? That you can take what he gives to you and pass it on? This is the very principle the apostle Paul describes in his second letter to the church at Corinth: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 CORINTHIANS 1:3–4 Location: 1,221
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. PHILIPPIANS 2:12–13 Location: 1,250
Trusting God is a series of choices, not a one-time event. Location: 1,252
Loss is the uninvited door that extends us an unexpected invitation to unimaginable possibilities. —CRAIG D. JONESBOROUGH Location: 1,268
If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were rising against me, I could hide. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God, as we walked about among the worshipers. PSALM 55:12–14 Location: 1,338
Unexpected hurts often reveal unexpected pain, and, as strange as it may sound, I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to be healed of anything lurking under the surface of which I might not have been aware. Location: 1,425
Reframing my questions changed my perspective. It turned my focus back toward Jesus—where real answers come from. It reconnected me to hope—which meant I was looking forward now and not backward at all the emotional wreckage in my wake. It also set my heart in a direction of letting Jesus mold me further into being the kind of friend I had always wanted. Location: 1,440
Each time I’ve been unexpectedly hurt, it has renewed my resolve to be quicker to ask for forgiveness—so I practice ongoing forgiveness as often as possible. As a wife, I can lapse in kindness or attention. Sometimes, my fiery Greek emotions get the best of me, and I say things that are unfair. When I realize how I’ve sounded or what I’ve done, I ask Nick to forgive me. As a mother, I get plenty of opportunities as well. I love my girls with all my heart, but I don’t always get it right, so I ask them to forgive me. I’m a strong woman with convictions and visions and dreams for the future, so as a leader with more than two hundred members on our team, I don’t always get it right there either. In those times when I realize I’ve blown it, I want mercy. No matter the difference of opinion, or the differences in personality and interpretation of the circumstances, I want forgiveness and grace. Location: 1,461
The next year, she went to a new school and learned some valuable lessons: some friends are for a season; some friends are safe up close; and some are only safe from a distance. We can’t bring everyone into our inner circle and trust them equally. Location: 1,539
We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. —MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. Location: 1,553
Feelings of hopelessness can leave us wanting to pull back and rewrite the rest of our lives as a smaller, safer story than the adventurous one God originally planned for us. Location: 1,606
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). He promises to help us become the prisoners of hope he’s called us to be so we can move beyond despair into a new destiny. Location: 1,703
David defeated the giant because he believed the Word of the Lord over Goliath’s intimidating taunts. He understood what God wants us to understand: The facts can change, but the truth never does. The truth alone has the power to help us move from the hopelessness of what is to hope of what will be. Location: 1,731
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 CORINTHIANS 10:4–5 Location: 1,741

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. PHILIPPIANS 4:8 KJV Location: 1,757
“Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double” (Zechariah 9:12 ESV). Location: 1,833
God wants to fulfill the dreams he’s whispered to our hearts—no matter how long ago. We may have set them aside, but he’s never forgotten even one of them. Let’s dare to open our hearts and minds and allow God to revive our hopes. Let’s risk giving him room to fulfill his plans and purposes for our lives in unexpected ways. Location: 1,851
God’s first priority for us is always transformation—a change from the inside out. He almost always transforms us before he transforms our circumstances. Location: 1,948
God always prepares us for the place he has prepared for us. He wanted Kylie to learn how to strengthen her heart. He wanted her to learn how to move from halfhearted to wholehearted—a process that takes time and often unfolds in a wilderness. And he wanted her to learn how to apply what she learned to the rest of her life. Location: 1,954
Caleb stayed on mission, regardless of all the setbacks. He stayed flexible, robust, passionate, and enthusiastic. And ultimately, it was his wholeness of heart that got him to the Promised Land. Even after forty years of disappointments and living among three million bitter complainers, he knew the secret was keeping his heart healthy—and going through. Through the pain. Through the struggles. Through the doubt. Through the fear. Through the loss. Through the betrayal. Through the forgiveness. Through the confusion. Through the insecurity. Through the disappointment. Through the disillusionment. Through all the emotions. Through rediscovering the wonder—over and over again. Caleb may or may not have been the most gifted, the most eloquent, or the smartest among his peers. But he was certainly the most wholehearted. I love his bold declaration, “I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then” (Joshua 14:10, emphasis added). Location: 2,029
I often say that the reason God is using me like he is today is simply because I’m still here. Because I have allowed God to heal me and to continue healing me. When you get to be my age, it seems as though many have dropped out of the race and God has fewer options to choose from. But I can tell you from personal experience that if you stay in the race, if you keep your heart whole, God can and will use you. He will get his glory through whoever is willing, available, and tenaciously wholehearted. Location: 2,055
It’s strange how new and unexpected conditions bring out unguessed ability to meet them. —EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS Location: 2,127
Isn’t it fascinating that Caleb was the one willing and able to take on these three giants—Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai— and that he had to wait until he was eighty-five to do it? Could it be that sometimes there are giants we can defeat only because we’ve been seasoned long enough by our wilderness years to know we can? That we’ve followed God long enough to be strong and confident—in who we are in Christ and in what we can do in his strength? When Caleb was old enough, strong enough, and mature enough, he defeated those three giants and took possession of the land—as his reward, and as an inheritance for all the generations to come. He’d lived long enough to be confident that every battle is the Lord’s,9 no matter how big the giants are. Do you think that maybe you have a Hebron too? Maybe you’ve raised your family, had a fulfilling career, and diligently grown your nest egg. You’re “all set.” But what if God has more for you? Especially, now that you are older and wiser. You know things—the kind of things you couldn’t have known when you were younger. What if there are some enemies that only you can slay—enemies only a mature, seasoned, passionate believer could ever take down? Enemies that need to be destroyed to prepare the way for the generations to come after you? Now is the time to take your Hebron. Now is the time to do more, not less. Now is the time for your life to wind up—not down— because “the way of life winds upward for the wise” (Proverbs 15:24 NKJV). Location: 2,230
I read books all the time to keep myself current with knowledge about leading teams, parenting my kids, and staying strong emotionally. I can’t expect to remain an effective leader to my team if I don’t keep enlarging in knowledge and the skillful application of it. I can’t expect to keep up with a generation that speaks differently and was educated differently from my generation if I don’t enlarge my mind to understand them and learn how to communicate effectively with them. As tempting as it is, I cannot rest on the success of my past to take me into the future in any area of my life. Location: 2,296
Fear is never logical. Location: 2,304
I believe you are the answer to someone’s prayers. You are an unexpected blessing in someone’s life. God wants to use you, and he wants you to have vision for every age and stage of life—including this one. Location: 2,327
A keen sense of humor helps us overlook the unbecoming, understand the unconventional, tolerate the unpleasant, overcome the unexpected, and outlast the unbearable. —BILLY GRAHAM Location: 2,370
No matter the objective, the process is the same. God places in our hearts a calling, a mission, a goal, an idea, a destiny, and then he leads us to it through small, incremental steps. It’s a principle of growth depicted throughout the Bible. The prophet Isaiah said it this way: “He tells us everything over and over—one line at a time, a little here, and a little there!” (Isaiah 28:10 NLT). Location: 2,484
God knew the end from the beginning, but I did not. God knew he was preparing me, but I did not. God knew all the unexpected moments were leading somewhere. I just trusted him and took steps, and he has never wasted one step. “The LORD directs the steps of the godly,” writes the psalmist. “He delights in every detail of their lives” (Psalm 37:23 NLT). Location: 2,560
Nearly all the best things that came to me in life have been unexpected, unplanned by me. —CARL SANDBURG Location: 3,241
Faith in God is how we keep our hearts and minds fixed on where we’re going. It’s how we overcome the impossible and experience the supernatural—just as every biblical hero who ran this race before us did:
- Abraham, who left the known for the unknown (Hebrews 11:8)
- Sarah, who conceived despite her age (Genesis 21:2)
- Noah, who built an ark with the storm yet unseen (Genesis 6:14)
- Moses, who led the people out of Egypt (Exodus 6:26)
- Caleb, who trusted God wholeheartedly (Numbers 14:24)
- Joshua, who led the people to conquer Jericho (Joshua 5–6)
- Rahab, who risked her life to help God’s spies (Joshua 2)
- Deborah, the judge who dispensed wisdom for more than thirty years (Judges 4)
- David, who defeated Goliath against all odds (1 Samuel 17)
- Esther, who risked her life to save the Jews in the Persian empire (Esther 5)
- Daniel, who feared God more than the king (Daniel 3)
- Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who endured the flames (Daniel 3)
- Mary, who said yes to being the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:38)
- The man at the pool of Bethesda, who picked up his mat and walked (John 5:1–18)
- The woman with the issue of blood, who dared to touch the hem of Jesus’s garment (Luke 8:43–48)
- Bartimaeus, who received his sight and then followed Jesus (Mark 10:46–52)
- Peter, who stepped out of the boat (Matthew 14:29)
- Philip, who shared the message of Jesus with an Ethiopian leader (Acts 8:26–40)
- Paul, who traveled the world to preach the gospel (Acts 11–28) Location 3,297

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