Divine Interruptions

Betty MacPherson Johnson

          Recently I was listening to an interview about the book, “Heaven is for Real” with its author who is a Wesleyan pastor in the Nebraska District. During the interview, the pastor’s District Superintendent was phoned for his input. He made a statement about this pastor which I quickly wrote down. I want to remember it always. He said this: “God has some people out there He knows He can interrupt and their response will give others a good reflection of God’s greatness and glory.” Wow!

          How do you respond when you are interrupted? If you’re anything like me, sometimes the interruption is not met with the most positive reflection. I particularly find it annoying when people interrupt someone in the middle of a conversation. There are those who even “but in” in the middle of a sentence! My mother always told me that kind of behavior was rude. I still believe her, although I also know there are times when we are deep in conversation when a thought bursts forth in our brain that just has to be verbalized, rude or not! Have you ever had that experience? As I get older, those interruptions come, not because I necessarily have anything brilliant to add, but because if I don’t say it right away, the thought will be lost. Maybe that would be for the best anyway!

          Our lives have interruptions too. As I wrote an email earlier today, my life was interrupted with a phone call from a dear friend of mine telling me her mother had been taken to the hospital and she is not doing so well. My friend, Pam, is from England, but she now lives in Florida and has not seen her mom in three years. What a difficult interruption. It has been hard to concentrate since that phone call came, because Pam’s mom is a very special friend and I am anxious to hear how she is doing. In the meantime, I pray.

          All of us, if we have lived for very long, have experienced interruptions, whether it’s an illness, loss of a job, accident, or something as simple as a change of plans due to the weather. How we respond to the interruptions in our lives is evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work in us. I hope and pray that I am one of those people God knows He can interrupt. And I pray that my response will be a good reflection of God’s greatness and glory.

          Where has God interrupted you lately? How was your response?

“God has some people out there He knows He can interrupt and their response will give others a good reflection of God’s greatness and glory.”