Are We Willing?

I want to start this post out with a big shout out and THANK YOU to God for continuing to convict me in an attempt to jerk me out of my complacency, lethargy & spiritual apathy. I say this, because I know He won’t continue to do this if I continue to ignore it and feel like I’m not worthy of it. It’s ridiculous on my part and time to wake up and get busy being about His work and call on my life. This morning was just another one of those, “Hey, I’m serious! It’s time to get moving” kind of times.

Anyone who knows me well knows this one thing about me – I hate being interrupted. I think it is rude, selfish and so very disrespectful to intentionally input your opinion or thoughts over top of my, or someone else’s, time of speaking. And if something has been planned in a certain fashion at a certain time, please don’t pull a last minute change on me. Few things upset me quicker than interruptions. But wouldn’t you know that the things we look at like this are the very things God is gonna be very intentional about being involved in.

Take this morning as an example. It was supposed to be a normal Sunday morning where my wife and I get up and casually get ready to head off to church. But, as the Lord would have it, this wouldn’t be a normal morning. Instead, I awoke to my wife crying over a situation she has been involved in for a couple of weeks now. Unfortunately, I can’t go into detail about it, but God decided to allow this situation to interrupt our Sunday morning routine. I was upset, to say the least. I didn’t like seeing my wife in tears and, to be honest, I simply didn’t want to deal with this as soon as I open my eyes. This interruption would make us have to drive separately rather than together and could potentially keep her from making it to church at all.

Nevertheless, my more sane self knew that her attending to this need was very important not only for her, but more so for the other person. Not to mention I kept having this one thought; You have to be willing to let Me interrupt your plans. I knew He was right, but I didn’t like it. We went with it anyway and she headed out to go tend to this need. I went on to church by myself.

Again, as God would have it, during the time of worship one o four pastors got up and spoke a few words. She went into detail about the meaning of the OT word, selah. Which, if you’ve spent any time at all in the Psalms, you’ve seen this word. In a nutshell, it’s a willful interruption. Of course it is. Why wouldn’t it be? It’s a simple, yet intentional word used by the psalmists. However, it’s a subtle, loving reminder for me (and my wife as she sneaked into the back of the church) from God that interruptions are necessary and not worth being upset about. In fact, we should pray for and anticipate them.

So, as stated in the title, are we willing to be interrupted? This is especially important for those feel as if, or know without a doubt, that we are called to something bigger than ourselves. Are we willing to not only allow God to interrupt our plans, but also to pray for it to happen? It’s like the old adage says, if you don’t want your patience tested, don’t pray for patience. Because He isn’t simply gonna just give you patience. Instead, He’s going to put you in situations that forces you to practice patience. Therefore, if you truly do not want your time or plans interrupted, this is not a prayer you need to be praying.

But if we truly want to see God work in our lives, we need to be intentional about our time in prayer while allowing Him – even encouraging Him – to intrude on our time and plans. It will happen when we least expected and we need to be prepared for it. Saul (known later as Paul) was on his way to serve warrants to some Christians in Damascus when God decided to interrupt His plans by knocking him off his horse by a blinding light. It totally changed the course of his life. Every disciple Jesus had was interrupted from their daily lives whether they were fishing, collecting taxes or just hanging around. All He said to most of them was, “Come, follow Me” and they dropped what they were doing and left. There are many stories within the health and science communities whose lives and beliefs were completely interrupted by Christ. They in turn change their ways of thinking and bring glory to God through their knew found knowledge of Him. Many who have turned from other religions due to being interrupted by Christ and find themselves being persecuted as a result.

My challenge with all of this is simple – ask yourself how willing you are to allow your life and plans to be interrupted? Your answer to this question may give you insight into just how far you’re willing to allow your life to be surrendered to, and used by God. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad person or in fear of losing your salvation. But I believe more than ever that God is looking for people who are not only willing, but are looking forward to having their lives interrupted for His sake and for the sake of those who need us.

As you ask yourself this question and seek His heart for you in it, I will leave you with this amazing prayer shared with us this morning at church. It is, I believe, a more accurate and appropriate prayer that we should be praying than the prayers we usually pray.

“Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father be with you; and may the Holy Spirit come among you and disturb you and trouble you, and set before you and impossible task and DARE you to do it; until in your desperation you fall on your knees and remain there until He fills you with His power, which alone will enable you to do it; and the…and only then may the Lord grant you His peace. Amen.”

Let’s be willing to be interrupted. Let’s allow our hearts and spirits to be so affected by His love that we anticipate the day where he shakes the ground we stand on. It’s what He is seeking from His people – those serious about the work He is doing in the Earth!

Let it be so, Lord!