May 12, 2021
Divine Interruptions
Sharon Jaynes
Today’s Truth
“Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you,” (Matthew 9:22 NIV).
Friend to Friend
Just the other day, I got a bit lost going to pick up takeout at a restaurant I had never been before. Once I arrived and got in line, I watched the woman in front of me with a baby in a stroller. God prompted me. “Pay for her meal.”
So, I did.
With tears in her eyes, she said, “How did you know my situation?”
I assured her that I had never seen her before, and I didn’t know anything about her “situation.” I also assured her that God did.
We talked for quite sometime. This woman was in a very dark chapter of her life. She had lost her job. Her daughter was an addict. Her funds were running low, and she had just been awarded full custody of that little baby granddaughter in the stroller.
I’m glad I was paying attention to what God was doing.
All day long God is working in us and around us. It is so easy to simply go about the task of living without seeing God’s handprints on our circumstances and footprints on our paths. When we see life as a “to do list” to check off, or random acts of fortune to celebrate or misfortune to endure, we miss seeing God and hearing His voice as the scarlet thread that connects the moments and the days of our lives.
Frederick Buechner noted, “All the absurd little meetings, decisions, inner skirmishes that go to make up our days. It all adds up to very little, and yet it all adds up to very much. Our days are full of nonsense, and yet not, because it is precisely into the nonsense of our days that God speaks to us words of great significance…”
When Jesus came to earth in human form, He had a definite plan and purpose. The Bible tells us, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work,”
(I John 3:8). Another translation says it this way: “The reason the Son of God was made manifest (visible) was to undo (destroy, loosen and dissolve) the works of the devil [has done]” (Amplified).
Even though Jesus’ had a plan and a purpose, He welcomed interruptions when His Father placed someone in His path. Jesus turned aside to care for the woman caught in adultery. He turned aside to heal a blind man. He turned aside to bless children even though the disciples tried to shoo them away.
He turned aside to heal a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. Matthew tells us, “Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you,” (Matthew 9:22 NIV).
He turned aside to speak to curious Zacchaeus perched in a tree. He turned aside to woo a frightened insecure fourteen-year-old girl and welcome her with open arms – me.
Jesus paid attention to the circumstances of those around Him as he went from one place of ministry to the next. He noticed a woman mourning in a funeral procession for her only son, a woman drawing water by a well, and a lame man lying by a pool. To those looking on, they may have seen each of these situations as an interruption in Jesus’ busy schedule, but Jesus saw them as divine appointments.
For me, getting lost that day was an interruption. But you see, it wasn’t an interruption at all. It was a divine appointment I would have missed had I not taken a “wrong turn.” God had me on special assignment to tell one of His daughters that she was loved and seen. So, my wrong turn was God’s right turn.
Today, as you go through the tasks of daily living, pay attention to those around you. You never know when someone in your path may be your special assignment from God.
Let’s Pray
Dear Lord, I have so much to do today, but nothing is as important as what You have for me to do. Help me to pay attention to the lives around me and recognize any special assignments that You may have for me today.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
Pay close attention to any unusual circumstances or interruptions that happen today.
Think of a time when you stopped what you were doing to take on a special assignment from God. Big or little, it’s all important. Leave a comment and let’s encourage one another!
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© 2021 by Sharon Jaynes. All rights reserved.
Originally published Wednesday, 12 May 2021.
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