The Event - Day 5 - Are you interruptible?
Thursday, November 18, 2010
So the other day I was sitting in my office working on one of the messages for "The Event" series when our Administrative Assistant buzzed me on the phone. She explained that someone had stopped by to see me and asked if I was available to meet with them. Like some of you, I'm a task driven person and since I was smack dabb in the middle of trying to get a very important thought down on paper I was hesitant to break my train of thought. On top of that, this person didn't have an appointment and this could really throw off my carefully planned schedule. I of course had all sorts of great excuses in my mind, but the bottom line was that I was so focused on what I was doing that I didn't want to stop. In other words, I didn't want to be interrupted.
Thankfully, I stopped what I was doing and took the time to meet with a very dear person who was in need of some comfort and care due to a difficult situation. It was a blessing to meet with this person and my hope is that they were encouraged and strengthened by the time we spent together.
If I'm honest, I'm embarrassed to share this story because it makes me look like a total jerk. But my personal humiliation is worth it so that I might share this one thing with you: As Christ followers, we must be ready to be interrupted. We must be ready to have our plans changed, our directions rewritten, and our courses redirected both in our daily schedules and our life plans. We must be ready to serve another person despite the personal cost of time or loss of productivity. We must be ready at any moment to share Jesus with another person, pray for a neighbor, or care for a fellow Christian. Being a disciple means being "interruptible."
As we continue on this 40-day journey, I would encourage you not to get so focused on the tasks that you would miss the power and importance of a "divine interruption."
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Spiritual Focus: “For nothing is impossible with God.”
To go along with the Spiritual Challenge for this week, we want to encourage you to go deeper into Scripture and help you apply the things we talk about on Sunday mornings. Pray that God would reveal Himself through His Word and then answer the following questions:
1. Read Luke 1:26-38 again. What is the one thing you learned from rereading the Scriptures or from the Sunday sermon that you didn’t know before? Discuss it with your family.
2. We learned last week that Zechariah and Elizabeth’s hopes for children had died, but what does Gabriel say in Luke 1:36? What dreams or hopes of yours seem to have died? What encouragement does “For nothing is impossible with God” give you?
3. Read Luke 18:18-27. How are we like the Rich Ruler? Why did the people ask the question in verse 26? What does the promise of verse 27 make possible? How does this change the way you look at people who haven’t submitted to Jesus as Savior and Lord?
4. Does Mary’s response in Luke 1:38 indicate belief in God or faith in God? What is the difference between belief and faith? What area of your life do you need to move beyond belief to faith? What steps will you take to get there?
Jeff, I'm inspired by your real, raw thoughts and am encouraged to be available this week for those around me. I so can identify with times of not wanting to be interrupted. Thanks for the challenge!!
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