God Interruptions

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose.
(Romans 8:28)

GOD INTERRUPTIONS

I’d made the decision! After a year and a half of near-constant pain and cortisone shots that were becoming less and less effective, after standing in my bathroom one day in so much pain all I could do was cry (and then get angry at myself for crying), and after being given all my medical options.

“You have to decide how much pain you can live with,” Dr. S. had said. “We can try to manage the pain, but the only way to be pain-free is. . .”

After years of praying and believing for a re-creative miracle, I prayerfully decided to have total knee replacement surgery.

I had completed practically all the pre-surgical requirements: blood work, total joint replacement class, exercises to strengthen quads. All that was left was to get clearance from my dentist and a check-up with my primary care physician. I was all set!

AN UNEXPECTED INTERRUPTION

“No surgery for you, my dear!” Dr. Hill said. “You have an abscessed tooth.” The look in my eyes must have shown utter disbelief coupled with disappointment, because he proceeded to paint a very graphic picture of what might happen if I had surgery and got an infection (a picture, I might add, I did not need to envision). He then patted me on my shoulder. “You’re going to be OK,” he reassured.

All my meticulous plans went up in one pouf (or, more accurately, in one abscess). While I was grateful the abscess had been found (My tooth had not been bothering me.), I have to admit this disruption to my plans was not welcome.

The following Sunday, our worship team sang a song written by my pastor, John W. Stevenson. It was a declaration of our desire to see God move — even if He disrupted things in the process.

“We need a Holy Ghost invasion,
A supernatural interruption;
A God-led revolution where miracles are the rule.”
“Holy Ghost Invasion” John W. Stevenson© Heirs Publishing

I lifted my hands and raised my voice.

“Really?” the Holy Spirit whispered.

DISRUPTION OR GOD INTERRUPTION

We ask for divine encounters, divine appointments, divine intervention. We long for “supernatural interruptions,” but when they come, we rarely recognize them as such — and we all too often view interruptions in our lives as a negative. After all, we have prayed, and now we have a plan, we have a map, we’ve found our flow.

We have a word from the Lord, and when a disruption to that plan comes, we immediately try to do all we can to get back into our flow, to get things back on course, to regain control. We blame the devil and even ask God (the same God we’d prayed to for His intervention) to interrupt the interruption and get things back on track.

What if God is in the interruption?

A God interruption doesn’t look or feel like we think it should. It may shake the very foundation of what we believe or how we view God. A God interruption may be chaotic. It disrupts our equilibrium, disturbs the balance of our lives. Yes, it may even look like the hand of the enemy, but when we pause and look for God, He can be found in it all. What looks like chaos and disruption to us may actually be God moving so that His purposes are fulfilled, not just in the interruption but because of it.

A God interruption looks like a young virgin becoming supernaturally pregnant and facing ridicule in a culture that could have, by all rights, stoned her for committing adultery. A God interruption looks like a census forcing a 9-months-pregnant girl to travel with her husband to Bethlehem — a four-to-seven day journey. A God interruption looks like this girl giving birth to the Son of God in a manger. A God interruption is a cross on which that Son died. All this because that mother was a part of God’s eternal plan.

GOD INTERRUPTIONS CHANGE US

Interruptions can allow us to see things we may not otherwise see, to hear things we may not otherwise hear, and to move in a God-ordained direction we may not otherwise have chosen. God interruptions can change the very trajectory of our lives and center us securely in God’s will. They can sync us with His perfect timing. We must learn to find the blessing in the interruption.

Maybe the interruption is the pause we need to hear God more clearly, to receive further instructions, or to allow Him to move miraculously on our behalf. Maybe the interruption isn’t about us at all but is an opportunity to be used by God to bless or encourage someone else.

Maybe it is the pause we need to root us more deeply in faith, peace, and rest — or maybe it is a faith detour leading to our perfection, our maturity. Maybe it is the roadblock designed to open our eyes to see dimensions of God’s greatness and glory we may have not seen without it.

Maybe the interruption is — has always been — a part of the plan.

LESSONS LEARNED THROUGH GOD INTERRUPTIONS

I have now been declared healthy by my dentist, and still there are halts and detours. In the interim, in the interruption, I am learning some valuable lessons about myself and about my God. I choose to believe that in the midst of this delay, God has been at work in more ways than I may ever know. I know He has been at work in me — and, yes, I have found a deeper place of peace, trust, and rest in Him as a result of finding Him in the interruption.

First published by Deborah A. Gaston on July 30, 2019 on her blog: God Speaks Today. Published with permission.

Questions For Reflection

1. When have your meticulous plans all gone up in a single pouf? How did you react?
2. What if that interruption of your plan was really a significant detail in God’s plan?
3. As you look back over the details of that interruption, ask God to show you His blessing in the midst of it, and to remind you to seek His will when the next one comes along.