Yesterday, I came into the office with a very specific list of things that I wanted to accomplish. The list wasn’t one that I would usually consider terribly long, but in my mind, every thing on that list was of crucial importance. But God it would seem, thought otherwise. Yesterday was a day filled with other distractions that derailed my plan almost entirely. Most of those “important tasks” are now on the to-do list for today. And do you know what? The world did not end.
We tend to live by calendars. Some of us are ruled by little squares on a wall calendar, others by a buzzing phone that interrupts us more often than we’d like. And of course, we are terribly proud of how busy those calendars look. I’ve often thought that clergy could take Olympic gold in the event of “calendar clutter.”
But then, along comes God — who, as it turns out, is not bound by iCal or Outlook. God has a habit of stepping into our lives when we least expect it, and certainly when we haven’t pencilled God in. Scripture is full of these “sacred interruptions.” Moses is minding his own business, tending sheep, when suddenly a bush starts burning and talking. Mary is making her plans for a simple village life when Gabriel knocks at the door. Saul is trotting along the Damascus road, intent on mischief, when he finds himself face-down in the dust. None of these were in the day-planner.
And yet, it is precisely in those interruptions that lives are changed and God’s purposes unfold.
We don’t usually welcome interruptions. They break the rhythm, they delay the task, they derail the plan. But sometimes it’s in the missed bus, the unexpected visitor, the phone call at the wrong time, that God does some of God’s best work. One of the saints of our Anglican tradition once said that interruptions are not obstacles to ministry — they are the ministry.
Now, I don’t mean to suggest that every traffic jam is a burning bush or that every telemarketer is Gabriel in disguise. But I do believe that God often meets us in the unscheduled moments: the child who needs our attention when we’re trying to finish an email, the neighbour who drops by just as we’re putting on our shoes, the quiet nudge in prayer when we’d rather be planning our week. These are opportunities to remember that the world does not, in fact, revolve around our calendar — but around God’s grace.
So perhaps the invitation today is this: instead of seeing interruptions as enemies of productivity, we might receive them as holy moments in disguise. Who knows? The person tugging at your sleeve may be the very one God is sending to bless you — or to be blessed by you.
And if that thought doesn’t lighten your schedule, at least it may lighten your heart.
A Prayer
Gracious God, thank you for meeting us in the interruptions of our lives. Give us eyes to see your hand at work in the unexpected, patience to receive what we did not plan, and joy in the holy surprises of each day. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.