WHEN GOD INTERRUPTS
Greetings,
You've probably shared a similar experience as I have. You are heading out of your house to get to a specific meeting or appointment. You know that the travel time is normally 30 minutes, let’s say. You begin driving, and halfway there, a freeway onramp you normally take is closed, or a street you normally take is blocked off. Now, instead of being on time, the detour route you have to take will make you 10 minutes late to your meeting or appointment.
Life has a way of throwing interruptions into our normal routine. Many times, however, these interruptions are blessings in disguise.
Years ago, a missionary couple was returning from a sabbatical overseas. Their connecting flight was delayed, and they missed their final leg home. Frustrated and tired, they were placed in a hotel overnight. That evening, while eating dinner in the hotel restaurant, they struck up a conversation with a young woman sitting alone. She was going through a crisis and considering ending her life. But something about the couple’s kindness and willingness to listen gave her pause.
By the end of the evening, she had prayed with them and committed to seek help. The missionary wife later said, “It felt like God rerouted our entire travel plan just for her.”
Of course, the aforementioned example isn’t life’s interruption, but God’s interruption. God has a tendency to interrupt our lives in ways that can initially feel like frustration, failure, or even disaster. But what if we are looking at God’s interruptions incorrectly? What if we trusted that God’s rerouting of our life’s direction is an act of blessing?
Starting this Sabbath, our next sermon series will be on the book of Jonah. You may be surprised to find that Jonah is mentioned in the Old Testament before the book of Jonah. 2 Kings 14:25 says, He restored Israel’s border from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word the Lord, the God of Israel, had spoken through his servant, the prophet Jonah son of Amittai from Gath-hepher.” Gath-hepher was a town in Northern Israel.
This is important to note, because out of all of the prophets in the Old Testament, Jonah was the only one who was called to serve in a foreign land - Nineveh. The rest of the Old Testament prophets served in Israel. Jonah, too, began his ministry in Israel, as we see a glimpse of his ministry in 2 Kings 14:25. I imagine Jonah thought that’s where his ministry would remain. But God interrupted! Jonah 1:1-3 says, The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it because their evil has come up before me.” Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the Lord’s presence. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. He paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the Lord’s presence.”
Jonah was none too thrilled about this interruption, and ran as far away from it as he could. However, after Jonah repents of his rebellion and answers God’s call, he preaches to the entire town of Nineveh, and converts ALL OF THEM! In today’s world, Jonah would have been approached by every conference president in the Adventist church to be their conference evangelist. He’d have his own TV show, podcast, you name it!
The point I want to make here is that when we run from God’s interruptions, we are also running from the blessings God has for us on the other side of those interruptions. What may look like a foolish venture, when called by God, can turn out to be the experience you’ve been waiting for all along.
When in doubt, remember, God is for you, God is with you, and God loves you!
Blessings church family!
Pastor Chris
