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June 25, 2008
In Pastor's Words
Interruptions
You’re on your way out the door, and you’re late, when the phone rings! It’s your son who hasn’t called for a while and wants to catch up. You’ve just sat down to a nice hot meal when a knock comes at the door. It’s a stranger who needs assistance which could take a while. You’re driving down the highway to an important appointment when you come upon an accident and you’re the first one on the scene. Life is full of such interruptions. A study done in a Hewlett Packard lab in England revealed that their managers were being interrupted just over four times an hour and that the average interruption was two to eleven minutes. In only 55% of the cases, the manager resumed doing what he had done before. So, are interruptions always a nuisance and a bother?
“Interruptions” was the theme of almost every day that we lived in Africa. Without phone service, people just showed up. Students would come needing help with an assignment; visitors from afar would come for fellowship and tea; an accident would require a halt to whatever was happening so that the matter could be attended to quickly; someone would suddenly become sick with malaria and would need transportation to the hospital. One lunch time, a delicious hot meal was put in front of me in our dining room. My fork had just penetrated the savory dish when a knock came at the door. It was a woman I had never seen before. She was shabbily dressed with no shoes. I could understand her limited English as she, with great pain, explained that her daughter out in the country had just lost her first newborn. She needed money to get there. We were almost numb to the frequent requests for money for various reasons. My reserves were low, so my initial reaction was, “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you.” She thanked me and went on her way. As I sat down again to my nice hot meal, God pried me loose from my chair and I raced to the door to call the woman back. I knew God wanted me to help her. She was almost out of sight, but I got her attention and went to give her the 200 shillings she needed for bus fare. Interruptions can certainly be a nuisance if we see no purpose in them. However, interruptions can also be God’s divine appointments to spare us from some tragedy or to give us some opportunity to serve.
A study of the life of Christ shows that His earthly ministry seemed to be connected by interruptions. After healing a man with an unclean spirit (Mark 1:21-26), Jesus was suddenly interrupted by an entire city that demanded his attention (1:33). On another occasion he was interrupted in the midst of his teaching by four men carrying a paralyzed man (2:1-5). Later, Jesus was pursued and interrupted by a large crowd (3:7-9). Again, Jesus was interrupted by Jairus, then immediately interrupted again by a woman with a long term illness. For our Lord, interruptions were opportunities for ministry as they might well be for us. Some principles to note concerning Jesus’ response to interruptions, He always responded with grace, concern for everyone and purpose unchanged. There were times when Jesus initiated the interruptions himself and at other times He knew when to withdraw for prayer and rest.
May God give us wisdom in the interruptions of life to know when to respond, when to keep our focus unchanged, and when to withdraw for reflection, prayer and rest. Interruptions are part of life. We must deal with them in one way or another. May our response reflect the leading of His Spirit and our inner concern, as Christians, to show the kindness and love of Christ.
Pastor Ralph Partelow
Posted by Jennifer Herrmann at June 25, 2008 01:30 PM