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.
Matthew 4:19-20 ESV
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.
Recently, 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
recently married Andrew, serves with Children’s Ministries at Oakwood, and is a
fourth grade teacher at Lake Country Christian Academy.
