Monday, November 19, 2018


The Good Interruption
By Lexi Ellis

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once, they left their nets and followed him.

I was always taught interrupting was bad. Being one of three sisters, we had to wait our turn to speak. My parents wisely adopted a system for when we wanted to interrupt a conversation they were having with another adult. We would put our hand on theirs and once there was an appropriate break in conversation, they said, “excuse me,” and talked to us. As we got older, they taught us how to politely wait for a good moment to enter the conversation.

A few years ago, God interrupted my normal routine. I had a plan, a system…and then God revealed something. It’s funny, I responded to God the same way my parents did when we interrupted them. It seemed rude, inconvenient and surprising. I desperately wanted to smile at God and say, “You need to wait.”

And yet, as I looked at Scripture, I began to realize that God interrupts our normal routine with an invitation to actively follow Him. And this is about the only good interruption I’ve ever seen. This invitation to enter an active relationship with Christ - - this invitation to come and follow - - often interrupts our normal routine and the plans we make for ourselves. God called Moses in the midst of shepherding. God called Esther for “such a time as this” in the midst of comfort and luxury in being queen. God called Samuel while he was sleeping. Christ called His disciples in the midst of their vocation. The angel called Mary in the midst of her engagement for a socially-daring and divinely determined task.

Throughout Scripture, we see God’s invitation to come and follow in the midst of our normal routine. It’s quite the interruption. And yet, it’s good. Because when we surrender, when we stop controlling and instead follow Him, we allow God to use our situations and our circumstances to not only shape us, but point others to Him. His Spirit begins a new work in our lives. When we allow God to interrupt our normal routine, we grow in Christ and as disciplemakers.

I’ve been a Christian for years and yet I still struggled to recognize that God’s recent interruption in my normal routine - - my way of doing things - - was good. If we have a relationship with God, then we trust He has a plan, one that includes interruptions of what we want. I’m thankful for the reminder that these interruptions are good. In fact, they’re invitations to come, follow Him and point others to my Savior.

GOING DEEPER:
1.  Looking back, how have you typically responded to God’s good interruptions?
2.  How is God interrupting your normal routine now?


FURTHER READING:

Lexi’s family consists of her, her husband, Andrew, her daughter, Sloane, and her dog, Calvin. She teaches sixth grade Reading and Writing and serves with Children’s Ministries.