A pleasant surprise means an unexpected event or discovery that brings happiness, delight, or positive feelings, like a wonderful gift, a good news, or a friend showing up unannounced when one was not expecting them.
Pleasant surprise is a positive turn of events that goes beyond normal expectations, it has to do with creating a happy and memorable experience.
There are three aspects to any pleasant surprise:
It has to be unexpected: It happens without prior warning or anticipation.
It has to be positive: The outcome is good, enjoyable, or beneficial.
It has to induce emotional arousal: It evokes feelings of joy, delight, or agreeable astonishment.
God is the Author of pleasant surprise. He was the first to perform such an occurrence as recorded in the bible. He surprised the man with the making of the woman.
The Bible says Adam woke up from sleep one day, only to find a pleasant surprise by his side. He did not ask God for Eve. He was not notified ahead of time. He was not involved with the process. It was unexpected to Adam. It was beneficial for him though. It was certainly delightful to him.
Genesis 2:18, 21-23 NLT
“Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’
The bible tells us that Jacob and his mother planned that he should go to Syria and live there for a while, until the anger of Esau his brother would pacify, having received the blessing of the firstborn from their father Isaac. Then she would later sent for him.
Canaan to Syria was a long journey by foot. So, Jacob would have to travel for several days and nights. He got to a place called Luz at night, so he had to sleep there before continuing on his journey.
While sleeping, he had a dream. He saw a ladder reaching heaven from the earth. He saw angels ascending and descending on the ladder. Then above the ladder, he saw an image of God who pronounced blessings on him, and also extended His covenant with his father and grandfather upon him.
This was a pleasant surprise to Jacob for many reasons:
Why would God be interested in the life of a person who has just supplanted his brother and deceived his father?
Why was this manifestation in a strange place and not at home.
How could those promises made to him happen when he was going out empty and he was not sure he would return.
Genesis 28:16-17 NKJV
“Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!””
God is not a man that He should lie, neither is He the son of man that He should repent. God was faithful to His promises to Jacob. Jacob and his family were brought back to Luz (Bethel) by God about twenty-three years later. He built an altar there to thank God who had been gracious to him.
Genesis 35:5-7 NKJV
“And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel, because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.”
God has laid it in my heart that He will grant us pleasant surprises in this season. He will grant us beyond what we are expecting. He will make sure such things are beneficial to us. He will also see to it that the things will be delightful for us.
God will surpass our imagination. He deliver to us more than we ask of Him or think He would do. He will grant us unusual sights. He will deliver to us unusual speeches. He will make us experience unusual encounters. All these will be to the glory and honour of His name alone.
At the end of this month and the end of this year, our testimony shall be, “So, God was in this place, in this thing, and we know it not! How awesome is this place!” May the presence of God and His majestic power make all this possible in our lives and in our midst this month and beyond in Jesus mighty name.