Interruptions

At the age of seventy-five, it appears that everything in his life was going well. He was a successful rancher; he had his wife and family members near him. Then, out of nowhere, the interruption comes. He is told he has to uproot, leave his lifelong home, and move to who knows where. 

After years of floundering around, he finally seems to have it all together. Now, he’s working with God rather than against Him. He has a plan, a purpose, and a mission. Everything is on schedule. All of a sudden, his plan is interrupted and completely altered.

The teenage girl and her husband to be, were doing everything by the book. Whether by her own desire, or the wishes of her parents, they are following the traditions, even the laws of their day. A life-changing interruption occurs. The shocking announcement is made that she is going to have a baby.

Has your life and ministry ever been interrupted? Perhaps, you are working on the next sermon series, and you are called into an elder’s meeting and told that you are no longer needed. “We feel that the congregation needs someone younger,” or, “we feel the need to go in a different direction?”

You are getting close to slowing down. We’ll take some trips that we’ve always wanted to take. We’ll spend more time with the grandkids. Your wife goes into the doctor and the report comes back that she has cancer. They try for months every treatment possible, but she doesn’t make it.

The congregation is on the verge of doing something really grand. This is going to be our year. Then, boom. A new, unknown, pandemic sweeps across the world and nothing is the same. A loving, ready-to-go family of God’s people is estranged from one another and all plans are scrapped.

If you’ve been preaching very long at all, you know that interruptions happen. They are a part of life. They can really mess your life up and ruin your plans.

Unless. Unless we can find God in the interruptions. All of the first three scenarios in this article are real. God tells Abram he has to leave everything, but he is going to become the father of a great nation. And all of the families on earth will be blessed by him.

Paul is stopped by the Holy Spirit right in the middle of his planned mission trip, but God redirects his efforts, and the Gospel is preached in a place it had never gone before.

Mary & Joseph are told that a baby is going to be born to them, even though the marriage had not yet taken place. But this baby would change the world and bring salvation to all people in the world.

Whether our life-changing events come without our consent or not; we will be okay. We lose our job, a child, or even our wife. A virus may come that will change the world, our work and our congregations forever. We will be alright If. If we can find God in the interruptions.

Brothers don’t allow interruptions to ruin your life and your work. Please don’t give in or give up. Hang in there and hang on. With God’s help you can continue to make a difference and through your efforts, lives can be eternally changed. Interruptions may not be pleasant, but they can be used to the glory of God.