Stop it!

I was trying to get some admin stuff done the other day, and a friend of mine called. The timing was not good as I wanted to push through what was in front of me. It was that kind of day, one interruption after another, one urgent need to the next. I’d like to say I answered and it was a moment of crisis and I was able to be like Christ to him. That would be a lie. I did call back later and it was nothing urgent, but what if it had been?

As helpers, our lives always seem to have urgent needs, and interruptions come at us constantly. If it’s not a person in front of us, it our phones lighting up with another text, or our email notifications blinking. If we could just hide out and get stuff done… except God is often in those interruptions. How many times was Jesus “On the way to the temple” or “on the way to the seaside” when someone stops Him? A woman needs healing, a man’s child is sick, a Pharisee needs some theological adjustments.

I am not saying every interruption is a God-moment, sometimes Hs will is in exactly what is in front of you. But, instead of always being annoyed when another need presents itself, shouldn’t we at least ask if it is an opportunity for ministry? God will take care of what is necessary, if we seek first Hs Kingdom.

The flip side is to realize you are not Jesus. It is not your role to solve every problem, to step in every time to fix things. Often our pride will mandate that we are the one to fix. We almost seem incapable of saying “no”. This is not healthy, nor is it fair when we drop other commitments to meet an immediate need that may not be ours to meet. Sometimes Satan is distracting us with shiny things and the tyranny of the urgent.

So how to know when to step aside and when to journey forward? Wisdom. Seek God’s wisdom. Stop and pray and ask for wisdom which God gives generously. Is this a God ordained moment, is it my pride telling me I am the savior of this situation or is the satan distracting me? Stop and ask. The Holy Spirit will guide you. And in the end, we may never know about a particular situation, but what is important is our desire to be obedient and our attempt to do so.

I am sure that Lazarus’ family was angry that Jesus did not run to heal him. In fact, He delayed. But that’s because God’s glory was in a resurrection, not a healing. So Jesus not responding right away was God’s plan, it just didn’t feel like it.

So as life interrupts you, always ask “is it you, Lord?”