DIVINE INTERRUPTIONS

Have you ever been interrupted by a phone call, an e-mail, or a knock on the door from someone wanting your immediate attention? They didn’t check your calendar first to see if you were available. They just barged into your life. A SOUND BITES subscriber once shared with me a quote that resonated with me: “The most important moments rarely come at a convenient time.”

The Bible is full of stories about people who were rudely interrupted by God. We read them and long to have the kind of adventure they experienced. Yet when God interrupts us, are we willing to respond on a moment's notice?  Divine interruptions are often the pivot points of transformation in Scripture. Here are several compelling examples where God steps in and reroutes someone’s life, often in dramatic fashion.

God interrupts Abraham’s settled life with a call to leave everything familiar and journey to an unknown land (Genesis 12). This moment launches the covenantal story of faith. While tending sheep, Moses is interrupted by a bush that burns but isn’t consumed (Exodus 3). God calls him to confront Pharaoh and lead Israel out of Egypt -- a radical shift from shepherd to liberator. As a boy, Samuel hears God calling in the night (1 Samuel 3). It’s an interruption that marks the beginning of his prophetic ministry. Mary’s quiet life is interrupted by a divine messenger announcing she will bear the Son of God (Luke 1). Her “yes” changes history. The Samaritan Woman comes for water and leaves with living water (John 4). Jesus interrupts her routine and reveals her deepest need -- and her purpose. Jesus appears post-resurrection to Thomas in a locked room, interrupting doubt with presence and peace (John 20). Thomas moves from skepticism to worship. Jesus interrupts Peter’s workday with a miraculous catch and a call to become a “fisher of men” (Luke 5). Saul, a persecutor of Christians, is blinded by a heavenly light and hears Jesus speak (Acts 9). This interruption transforms him into Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles.

Divine interruptions often come when we least expect them -- during ordinary tasks, moments of rebellion, or seasons of despair. But they’re never random. They’re invitations to deeper purpose, greater trust, and holy transformation. For me, it was a phone call on a Friday night in March of 1985, from the former pastor of my church who was now living 500 miles away. As I look back on it, it was God calling me into ministry in the midst of an ordinary life -- a divine interruption. 

-- Rev. David T. Wilkinson, SOUND BITES Ministry™ 

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TODAY IS GOD’S GIFT TO YOU

“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  (Psalm 118:24 NRSV)

The greatest moment of your life is now.

Not because it's pleasant or happy or easy, but because this moment is the only moment you've got.  Every past moment is irretrievably gone.  It's never coming back.  If you live there, you lose your life.

And the future is always out there somewhere.  You can spend an eternity waiting for tomorrow, or worrying about tomorrow.  If you live there, you likewise will lose your life.

This moment is God's irreplaceable gift to you.  Most of all, this is the moment that matters because this moment is where God is.  If you are going to be with God at all, you must be with Him now -- in this moment. 

-- John Ortberg in “God Is Closer Than You Think”

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ONE DAY AT ABOUT THREE IN THE AFTERNOON

“At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, ‘Cornelius!’ Cornelius stared at him in fear. ‘What is it, Lord?’ he asked.” (Acts 10:1-4 NIV)

Here's the context.  There was a Roman captain named Cornelius who gave generously to the poor and "prayed to God regularly."  That prayer habit kept him dialed into God's frequency and set the stage for this vision.  At this point, Christianity was a sect of Judaism, but this vision changes the course of Christianity because the gospel is opened up to the Gentiles.  Christianity crosses the Rubicon, and whosoever will may come!

The timing of the vision almost seems coincidental, doesn't it?  "One day at about three in the afternoon."  But that's what I love about it.  When you pray regularly, you never know when God will show up or speak up.  Today could be the day.  When you live in prayer mode, you live with holy anticipation.  You know what coincidences are providences.  Any moment can turn into a holy moment.  God can invade the reality of your life at three o'clock one afternoon and change everything. 

-- Mark Batterson in “The Circle Maker”

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