Interruptions
Oct 19, 20091 Sam 9:1-10:13 details the story of Saul, Israel’s first king. The story starts in an unusual way. The donkeys belonging to Saul’s father, Kish, escape and he sends Saul and a servant to go off to find them. They search high and low and yet come up empty. Finally, as a last resort they decide to inquire of the prophet Samuel in a nearby town.
Just the day before, the LORD came to Samuel and said, “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him leader over my people Israel…” (1 Samuel 9:16).
It all happens as the LORD said. Saul comes to Samuel and Samuel anoints him as king over Israel. And how did it all begin? Lost donkeys. An interruption that was “wasting” Saul’s time.
Doesn’t it sometimes feel like that for us? The thing which we don’t want to do, that which seems to be distracting us, ends up being a step towards our life goal, the fulfillment of a dream, or the realization of another piece of God’s purpose coming together in your life.
So, how do we deal with interruptions? How do we respond to those things which are unplanned and unforeseen?
Throughout the gospels we see that this was constantly happening in the life of Christ. A woman came up to him on his way to raising a dead little girl to life and he stopped and healed her. Two blind men call out, interrupting his journey, and Jesus stops to heal them. People bring their babies to be blessed by him, interrupting what he’s doing, and he stops all to bless them. This happens again and again in the life of Christ.
So what kept him grounded, able to answer definitively “yes” or “no” to these opportunities that came his way? One word: Prayer.
Mark 1:35 says, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”
Jesus prayed and sought direction from the Lord. He was guided in those quiet moments and able to discern where God would have him go.
In the next verses, when the disciples came to rush him off into the activity of those who were seeking him, his answer was, no, its time for us to move on to the nearby villages. How did Jesus know that this interruption was not for him? From the time he had spent with God.
“It has been the interruptions to my everyday life that have most revealed to me the divine mystery of which I am a part. All of these interruptions presented themselves as opportunities; invited me to look in a new way at my identity before God. Each interruption took something away from me; each interruption offered something new.”
- Henri Nouwen
As we approach today, may God be our guide through the expected and the unexpected happenings. In prayer may we hear where and when and how to go about living now, seizing each moment as what it is – a gift from God.
-Pastor Tara VinCross
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