Interruptions That Turn to Blessings
While he was saying this, a ruler came and knelt
before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on
her, and she will live.” Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his
disciples.
Just then a woman who had been subject to
bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.
She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”
Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart,
daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from
that moment.
When Jesus entered the ruler’s house and saw
the flute players and the noisy crowd, he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead
but asleep.” But they laughed at him. After the crowd had been put outside, he
went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. News of this spread
through all that region. —Matthew
9:18–26
Jesus was
interrupted two times in a few minutes. While he was teaching, a ruler interrupted
him, asking him to come to his home to heal his daughter who had just died. Jesus
healed her. While he was on the way to the ruler’s home, a woman who had been bleeding
for twelve years interrupted him when she touched his cloak and was instantly healed.
Many would be upset with those two desperate people for interrupting Jesus in the
middle of his important business. Not Jesus! He turned interruptions into opportunities
for healing hurting people.
Several years ago, during my recuperation following knee surgery, I had
set up a study in our home. Early one Sunday morning, while I was making final preparations
for the morning worship service, I heard a gentle, quiet, little knock at my door.
It was my little girl Janelle, who was seven years old. She had come in earlier
to get a phone book from my desk, and Sandie had told her not to bother me because
I was preparing my sermon for the morning service, but this time she came over close
to me and said, “Daddy, I just came in to hug you and give you a kiss, and tell
you I love you!” After she gave me a hug and a kiss, she stepped back, with a big,
beautiful smile, and said proudly, “You know what? I’ll bet I’m more important
than your sermon!” I pulled her up on my lap, gave her a big hug, and said, with
a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye, “You sure are, honey! You’re more important
than anything to me!”
As she walked out of the room with a proud That’s-my daddy-kind-of-smile
on her face, I paused to reflect and thank God for the special gift he had given
me in that little girl. Sometimes we get so tied up with the things we’re doing,
the goals we’re trying to reach, that we forget the most important relationships
we have: God, children, wives or husbands, friends. It’s important that we set our
priorities in proper order. Then we need to be open and responsive to the spontaneous
interruptions from God that are some of his finest blessings. It’s about Transforming
Hearts…Transforming Lives!—investing love, prayer, listening, modeling the Christ-follower
lifestyle, sharing the Word, and mostly, just being there, leading those we love
on the path home to God. Today, Janelle is a godly Christ-follower, wife,
mother, and teacher. As we’re open to God’s will and plan, we will be recipients
of constant blessings and joys that no amount of planning or money can achieve.
Lord, thank you for those little interruptions
that turn into huge blessings. Help me to always recognize and cultivate them,
to recognize them as opportunities to renew and strengthen those precious
relationships. Enable me to keep my priorities in order in my relationships
with you and others who are especially important in my life. I love you, Lord,
and I praise you again for another gentle reminder of how blessed I am to be
surrounded by people I love and who genuinely love and respect me. Thank You!
Amen.
Ø Dr. Sam Bruce; President, Sam & Sandie Bruce Ministries;
Pastor, Hope Point Church, Pearl, Mississippi; Online Instructor, Mid-America Christian
University, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
No comments:
Post a Comment