Interruptions

Church Bulletin

There I was ploughing along with my sermon on Psalm 23. Suddenly the page dropped away, the screen returned to the home setting and a box appeared telling me that my computer was downloading Windows 10. I didn’t seem to initiate the download and was not impressed. I made a cup of coffee and returned to see that 2% was complete. I watered the plants in the front garden and returned to see that 12% was complete. This inconvenience was going to take more than a few minutes.

Life is full of interruptions. Sometimes they are welcome, most often we see them as irritations. As it turned out I decided to use the time to look at an issue which required my attention. The Bible records many interruptions. Peter and Andrew were mending their nets when Christ called them to other work (Matt 4). Saul was busy persecuting the church when the Lord intervened on the road to Damascus (Rom 9). Paul’s travels in Galatia were interrupted when He received a vision to go to Macedonia (Acts 16). His journey to Rome took a digression by way of storm and shipwreck (Acts 27). Each occasion reveals people going about their business until God stepped in and changed direction.     

We should see interruptions as God’s providences. They are not accidents, misfortunes, bad luck or even good luck. They are God outworking His purposes; our world is not running according to our agenda but His. A God-centred perspective helps us to deal with frustration and disappointment; it helps us to keep a right perspective. A friend once said that Christians often fall to pieces when things go pear shaped because God’s sovereignty is theory rather than living reality.     

We should consider what opportunities are presented to us due to interruption. It could be that God is providing you with the chance to do something productive or attend to an issue which had been left undone. Paul’s ministry of preaching was interrupted with jail time, yet incarceration gave him the chance to write many of his letters. It opened the door for Gospel ministry in that context.     

We should use interruptions to reflect and take stock. This is particularly true when trials and tribulations break into our lives. They are often the way that God gets our attention. We can be marching along with everything mapped out and in place.  Self-sufficiency and apathy easily creep into our lives because it is all so normal and routine. We need a shake up; we need a dose of uncertainty and weakness to draw us to God.     

Prov 16:9, A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.”

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