EDITOR'S NOTE: This post is for me.
We’ve all been there. You’re completely locked in—maybe you’re finally making headway on Sunday's sermon, trying to balance the church budget, or mapping out next month's community outreach. Then, the phone rings. Or there’s a soft knock on your office door with a, "Hey, do you have just one quick second?" An hour later, you’re deep into an unexpected counseling session, and your tightly packed schedule for the day is completely shot.
In the daily grind of ministry, it’s so easy to look at these moments as frustrating roadblocks that mess up our productivity. But maintaining a strong foundation in faith means we have to let go of our own agendas and align our priorities with what God is doing. When we shift from our timeline to His, we start to see a beautiful truth: the interruption isn’t messing up the ministry; the interruption is the ministry. Moving our hearts to this place isn’t a quick fix or a one-time mindset shift; it’s a daily, continuous process of self-reflection, humility, and staying open to God's immediate prompting.
Learning from the Master of InterruptionsIf you look at the life of Jesus, some of His most incredible miracles and deepest teachings happened when He was on His way to do something else. Jesus never acted like people were getting in the way of His schedule; to Him, people were the schedule.
Take the account in Mark, for example. Jesus was walking with Jairus, a synagogue leader, and the stakes couldn't have been higher—Jairus's little girl was dying. But as Jesus hurried through the pressing, chaotic crowd, a woman who had been suffering from a chronic illness for twelve long years reached out and touched the edge of His clothes.
Mark 5:21-31 NIV [21] When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. [22] Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. [23] He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” [24] So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. [25] And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. [26] She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. [27] When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, [28] because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” [29] Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. [30] At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” [31] “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”(emphasis mine)
From a purely human perspective, this was a massive delay. A child’s life was on the line! Yet Jesus stopped, looked for her, and gave her His full attention, offering her physical healing and emotional restoration.
Mark 5:32-34 NIV [32] But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. [33] Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. [34] He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” (emphasis mine)
And even though word arrived moments later that Jairus's daughter had passed away during the delay, God wasn't late. It just set the stage for an even greater miracle when Jesus raised her from the dead.
Mark 5:35-42 NIV [35] While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?” [36] Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” [37] He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. [38] When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. [39] He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” [40] But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. [41] He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). [42] Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. (emphasis mine)
God’s timing is always perfect, even when our calendars are totally shattered.
Trading Our To-Do List for God's Agenda
To start seeing disruptions as opportunities, we have to dismantle our need for total control and hyper-efficiency. James gives us a pretty direct wake-up call about the pride of managing our schedules without surrendering them to God:
James 4:13-15 NIV[13] Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” [14] Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. [15] Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
When we feel that immediate wave of irritation rise up because someone interrupted us, it’s usually a warning sign that we’ve put our personal agenda above the Lord's. Cultivating an open-handed posture means surrendering our to-do lists to Him every morning, holding our plans loosely, and trusting that He knows exactly who needs our time, grace, and prayers today.
A Simple Playbook for Embracing the Unexpected
How do we actually build this spiritual reflex in our day-to-day lives? It takes a few intentional steps:
1. Take a Breath: When someone walks in, resist the urge to glance at your watch, sigh, or keep typing while they talk. See that moment as a holy intersection arranged by the Holy Spirit.
2. Listen to What’s Not Being Said: A lot of times, a random administrative question or a surface-level issue is just a bridge to a much deeper heartache or spiritual need. Give them your undivided attention, showing them the same presence Christ gives to us.
Philippians 2:3-4 NIV [3] Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, [4] not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. (emphasis mie)
3. Self-Reflection: Take a few minutes to look back at the disruptions. Did you meet them with impatience, or did you welcome them as sacred spaces? Regular self-reflection anchors our hearts back to the fact that people are never an interruption—they’re the whole point.
The Joy of an Open Heart
When we open our lives up to God's unexpected promptings, ministry stops feeling like a checklist of tasks and starts feeling like a vibrant, Spirit-led adventure. The next time your office door pops open or your phone buzzes right in the middle of a big project, take a deep breath, smile, and look for what God is up to. It might just turn out to be the most impactful part of your day..
We’ve all been there. You’re completely locked in—maybe you’re finally making headway on Sunday's sermon, trying to balance the church budget, or mapping out next month's community outreach. Then, the phone rings. Or there’s a soft knock on your office door with a, "Hey, do you have just one quick second?" An hour later, you’re deep into an unexpected counseling session, and your tightly packed schedule for the day is completely shot.
In the daily grind of ministry, it’s so easy to look at these moments as frustrating roadblocks that mess up our productivity. But maintaining a strong foundation in faith means we have to let go of our own agendas and align our priorities with what God is doing. When we shift from our timeline to His, we start to see a beautiful truth: the interruption isn’t messing up the ministry; the interruption is the ministry. Moving our hearts to this place isn’t a quick fix or a one-time mindset shift; it’s a daily, continuous process of self-reflection, humility, and staying open to God's immediate prompting.
Learning from the Master of InterruptionsIf you look at the life of Jesus, some of His most incredible miracles and deepest teachings happened when He was on His way to do something else. Jesus never acted like people were getting in the way of His schedule; to Him, people were the schedule.
Take the account in Mark, for example. Jesus was walking with Jairus, a synagogue leader, and the stakes couldn't have been higher—Jairus's little girl was dying. But as Jesus hurried through the pressing, chaotic crowd, a woman who had been suffering from a chronic illness for twelve long years reached out and touched the edge of His clothes.
Mark 5:21-31 NIV [21] When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. [22] Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. [23] He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” [24] So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. [25] And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. [26] She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. [27] When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, [28] because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” [29] Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. [30] At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” [31] “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”(emphasis mine)
From a purely human perspective, this was a massive delay. A child’s life was on the line! Yet Jesus stopped, looked for her, and gave her His full attention, offering her physical healing and emotional restoration.
Mark 5:32-34 NIV [32] But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. [33] Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. [34] He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” (emphasis mine)
And even though word arrived moments later that Jairus's daughter had passed away during the delay, God wasn't late. It just set the stage for an even greater miracle when Jesus raised her from the dead.
Mark 5:35-42 NIV [35] While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?” [36] Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” [37] He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. [38] When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. [39] He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” [40] But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. [41] He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). [42] Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. (emphasis mine)
God’s timing is always perfect, even when our calendars are totally shattered.
Trading Our To-Do List for God's Agenda
To start seeing disruptions as opportunities, we have to dismantle our need for total control and hyper-efficiency. James gives us a pretty direct wake-up call about the pride of managing our schedules without surrendering them to God:
James 4:13-15 NIV[13] Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” [14] Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. [15] Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
When we feel that immediate wave of irritation rise up because someone interrupted us, it’s usually a warning sign that we’ve put our personal agenda above the Lord's. Cultivating an open-handed posture means surrendering our to-do lists to Him every morning, holding our plans loosely, and trusting that He knows exactly who needs our time, grace, and prayers today.
A Simple Playbook for Embracing the Unexpected
How do we actually build this spiritual reflex in our day-to-day lives? It takes a few intentional steps:
1. Take a Breath: When someone walks in, resist the urge to glance at your watch, sigh, or keep typing while they talk. See that moment as a holy intersection arranged by the Holy Spirit.
2. Listen to What’s Not Being Said: A lot of times, a random administrative question or a surface-level issue is just a bridge to a much deeper heartache or spiritual need. Give them your undivided attention, showing them the same presence Christ gives to us.
Philippians 2:3-4 NIV [3] Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, [4] not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. (emphasis mie)
3. Self-Reflection: Take a few minutes to look back at the disruptions. Did you meet them with impatience, or did you welcome them as sacred spaces? Regular self-reflection anchors our hearts back to the fact that people are never an interruption—they’re the whole point.
The Joy of an Open Heart
When we open our lives up to God's unexpected promptings, ministry stops feeling like a checklist of tasks and starts feeling like a vibrant, Spirit-led adventure. The next time your office door pops open or your phone buzzes right in the middle of a big project, take a deep breath, smile, and look for what God is up to. It might just turn out to be the most impactful part of your day..
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