I sit down in the recliner, take out my phone to reply to a text message, only to have my hand jerked upward mid text by a long snout.
Tucker's plans are not my plans
I look down to see a cold, wet nose shoved underneath my arm and those big brown eyes accompanied with a wagging tail saying, “Hey, you’ve been gone all day. I want your attention.” This will be the first of many interruptions as I try to respond to the message with one hand, while my other hand is giving some neck scratches to my golden retriever, Tucker. Tucker tends to interrupt me often, whether I’m in the bathroom, on the phone, or trying to eat dinner. Honestly, I don’t mind. Why? Because I love him. Though he’s interrupting me from what I was planning to do at that moment, I will often stop what I am doing, get down on the floor, and give him my undivided attention. Usually, it only takes a couple minutes before he’s decided that he’s had all he needs of me and is ready to see what’s happening outside!
In general, I think we hate being interrupted. Whether it’s during a conversation, during a project at home or work, or just a general disruption of our life. How many times did Jesus get interrupted? Several stories come to mind, but I think one of the best is the woman with the issue of blood. Jesus was on His way Jairus’s house to heal a little girl who was dying, but on His way, a woman, who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years interrupted his trek. She crawled, hands and knees, most likely coming up behind him, and reached out to touch only the bottom of his robe. He stopped, looked around to find who had touched him. He told the woman that her faith had made her well. From that moment, did Jesus forget what he where he was going before that interruption? Nope. He continued on His way to Jairus’s house to heal the little girl.
Time Out
We need to allow ourselves to get interrupted by other’s needs. We all have plans, but plans can be changed. When we start putting other’s needs ahead of our own plans, we will grow the body of Christ. Be like Jesus, minister to people’s needs no matter where you were going in the first place. Sometimes it can be as simple as a 2 minute phone conversation, but other times it will require you to set your agenda aside while you take care of the need at hand.