INTERRUPTIONS are OPPORTUNITIES

I have a proposition for you this week!

 

 

Try to look at interruptions in your day as opportunities!

 

Opportunities to communicate God’s love to another person or maybe experience God’s love in your life.

 

 

Isn’t it really true that people and God’s love are ultimately most important?

 

 

Why did God send Jesus to this earth?  I dare say it was because of God’s great love for ALL of humanity!!  God wants to save us from our sin so we can spend eternity with Him in heaven.

 

 

 PEOPLE and LOVE are God’s purpose of life.

 

Photo courtesy of Bible Verse Photo under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) 

 

Do you, like me, sometimes get too focused on tasks that you think you NEED to accomplish in a day?

 

How do you react when something happens to interrupt the sequence of events you had planned for your day or even in your life in general?

 

Do you sometimes think interruptions are obstacles to a goal you are trying to accomplish?

 

Or do you look at interruptions as an opportunity to remind you of the importance of people and either sharing or receiving God’s love?

 

++++++++++++

 

Have you ever thought about how Jesus, while on this earth, handled interruptions?

 

 

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have Him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, He was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”  And He took the children in His arms, put His hands on them and blessed them.  –Mark 10:13-16  (NIV)

Jesus did not mind being interrupted to welcome the little children into His arms. I think the disciples were quite surprised!  Jesus showed them how important even the little children are to God!

++++++++++++

Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet He could not keep His presence a secret. In fact, as soon as she heard about Him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell as His feet. The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

“First let the children eat all they want,” He told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.”

“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

Then He told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”  She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.  –Mark 7:24-30  (NIV)

Here is another example where Jesus wanted to be alone but let a person interrupt His alone time to model once again how important people are. 

 Isn’t it interesting to note the two point message that Jesus relayed? When Jesus refers to “the children”, He is really sharing that the gospel, the Good News, was to be first preached to the Jews, then the Gentiles.

The woman, in faith, clearly understood what Jesus was saying and rewarded that faith by healing her child.

 

++++++++++++

²¹ When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake.²² Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. ²³ He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” ²⁴ So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. ²⁵ And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. … ²⁷ When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ²⁸ because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” ²⁹ Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

³⁰ At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

³¹ “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

³² But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. ³³ Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. ³⁴ He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

³⁵ While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”

³⁶ Overhearing^[a] what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”…

After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. ⁴¹ He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). ⁴² Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old)…   –Mark 5:21-42 Selected verses (NIV)

Jesus, on His way to help Jairus, took time to be interrupted in checking who touched His clothes. He knew immediately that some of His power had left and He took time to acknowledge the woman because of the love He had.

 

++++++++++++

 In these examples, Jesus models for us that interruptions….

…are a normal part of life

…not something to get stressed about

…are a part of a bigger plan

…represent people

…are opportunities to further the Kingdom of God

…display God’s love and power

 

Photo courtesy of BK under Creative Commons License (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Try to look at interruptions in your day as opportunities!

 

Opportunities to communicate God’s love to another person or maybe experience God’s love in your life.

 

I recall a few winters ago, I was off on a tight schedule to run some errands. As I was driving down our road, I noticed an elderly lady, who I had never met as she lives several houses away, trying to shovel out her mailbox. Somehow, our eyes met and I could see a look of desperation.

I am thankful that God prompted me to turn around, go get my son and a few shovels and shovel around her mailbox and driveway for her. She was so appreciative.  I was not able to complete my errands that day but I knew it was more important to focus on the person God had put in my path that day and show His love to her.

++++++++++++

Back in 2013 when I was given a cancer of stage 0 DCIS breast cancer, it was an interruption in my life that was not welcome!  Life was just fine until hearing those words.  It seemed like all of life changed in a blink of an eye!

Hearing a cancer diagnosis, and deciding the course of treatment has been the hardest thing I’ve had to face.  But through it all, I do believe it sparked a closer relationship to God and has helped me love others more, valuing life and its preciousness.

++++++++++++

May I encourage you to reflect this week on how, what you first perceive as an interruption, God can use as an opportunity to either share or receive His love and power?  

Better yet, can you share an example of that in your life in the comment section below?  Thank you in advance!

 

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.  Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.  Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.”  –John 4:34-36  (NIV)