An Interrupted Life

  I am just four days removed from one of those unexpected moments in life when God either creates or allows your life to be suddenly interrupted.  Can you identify?  Often we think of those moments as bad or negative, and from our human perspective, that is normal.  But have you ever wondered if they were, in reality, gentle nudges of divine love?  The more I reflect on several "moments" in life that left a real change way beyond that initial experience, the more I am convinced that God never interrupts us without it fitting into His strategic plan.

  This past Sunday morning I literally fainted in the middle of a sermon.  It isn't an event you can plan for - in fact, none of us expect or would ever believe it could ever happen to us.  Even though my whole life has been around pastors and ministry, I have never even known of anyone passing out while preaching.  But, it happened . . . to me!  And over the next 27 hours of confusion, an ambulance ride, and an overnight stay in the hospital with lots of tests, bloodwork and questions, I wondered in humble amazement at what God was up to.  I am sure I still don't realize all that He will teach me and how it will impact the congregation I serve, but I am confident of two things - it wasn't just a coincidence, and God will use it for His kingdom.

  As I have just spent some extra time reading scripture this week, I am reminded that interruptions are a common tool in God's work.  Over and over, in both the Old and New Testaments, I find God interrupting the lives of men and women, and every time they trusted Him enough to respond obediently to Him, He did something unusual.  Even when they tried to resist or run from Him, He pursued them with a passionate love. 

  So I am grateful for this momentary interruption of life.  I feel very loved - by my family, by the people I pastor and community I live in, and most especially by God.  The very creator of heaven and earth has included me in His strategic plan to redeem a lost world, and took the time last Sunday morning to personally interrupt my life (and my sermon).  I have been reminded of the weakness of my flesh, but strengthened by a reminder of the importance of His call on my life to follow and serve Him.  I am incapable of grasping all He is doing in and through me, but I have tightened by seat belt and am smiling from my heart to my spirit at the joy of this journey.  After all, it is those unexpected twists and turns and hills and sudden drops that excite us the most when we are paying money to ride a thrill ride.

  What about you?  When is the last time God interrupted your life?  How did you respond?  Could it be His gentle, loving way of reminding you of how intimately and personally He loves you, and of how important you are to His kingdom work?  Although these moments of life interruptions usually catch us by surprise, they are never unexpected to God.  He either allows them or creates them, but either way, He never wastes them!