Romans 8:28 NIV — And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Click here to watch today’s See You Saturday post as we wrap up our week on interruptions.

Romans 8:28 NIV — And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

As we finish our week together examining interruptions, perhaps we should look at interruptions by thinking of its synonyms; interval, interlude, break, and pause. Is God giving you an interval, interlude, break or pause? How do you respond to interruptions? What can you resolve to change so you are able to let God work in and through your interruptions? How can you respond positively to daily interruptions? Will you allow God to change your perspective? By doing so you may receive your biggest blessings and God may use you to be a blessing to others.

Let’s pray. Dear God, Help me to respond positively when I am interrupted. May I embrace the interval, interlude, break or pause and may I glorify You in my response. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Habakkuk 2:3 NIV — For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.

Interruptions are an inevitable part of life and sometimes an interruption is a delay. Over the summer break of 2019, I spent my time off from school decluttering our home and preparing it to be listed to sell. After lots of focused work and repairs, we listed our home in early August with high expectations of it selling quickly. The timing of our listing was against us and so began our months of delay.

Housekeeping has always been an area of weakness for me. I have always struggled to balance being a wife, mother, teacher, active church member, etc. along with keeping the house tidy. I have often prayed for God to lead me to be a better housekeeper. Therefore, during the time of our house being on the market, I was stretched and challenged as we had to constantly have our home show ready. As it turned out, our home was on the market for nearly a year before it sold. The interruption, in the form of a delay, proved to be a time of me practicing my skills of keeping a tidy house and in turn ingrained in me lifelong habits.

Are you in a season of delay? What life lessons can you learn during this interruption? Can you be thankful for your delay?

Let’s pray. Dear God, open my eyes to the lessons You are teaching me in my delays. Thank you for Your presence in the interruptions. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Romans 11:33 MSG — Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It’s way over our heads. We’ll never figure it out.

The story I shared yesterday occurred several years ago on the day we were scheduled to return to school after Christmas break. However, school had been canceled due to predicted inclement weather. As predicted we got snow, which is very unusual for the coastal area where we live. While I could have become frustrated at the thought of my original plans for the week being interrupted, I decided to begin my hospitality goal by inviting some young adult neighbors who are like family to us to have supper with us that evening. They came over earlier in the day and played in the snow with my children. At dinner that evening we shared not only food but lots of stories and laughs. We even made snow cream! The next day they came over and we spent the morning talking, watching TV and then playing outside together again. We even made our very own version of a coastal snowman. If I had been grumpy for being stuck in the snow I would have missed out on special memory making with these special young adults. More proof that interruptions can be our biggest blessings.

Are you altering your attitude toward interruptions? Are you allowing God to show you His blessings in the middle of a disruption to your plans?

Let’s pray. Dear God, open my eyes to the blessings within the disruptions to my plans. Thank You for using a pause to bring me blessings. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV — “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Several years ago my word of the year was hospitality. I decided to also focus on decluttering and organizing my house so that I could more confidently practice hospitality. I subscribed to a daily email with pointers on decluttering. For the first week of January the overall focus was the kitchen with daily goals that focused on different areas of the kitchen. On one particular day the focus was under the sink area. Needless to say, that area for me is a catch-all area for miscellaneous items. Initially I read the article but really didn’t make an effort to work on it right then. As I went about my morning I decided to work on the decluttering challenge from the previous day which was to organize and streamline the area around the sink and counter. As part of that I decided to move a basket to the under the sink area because it contained items I don’t use daily. As I began moving some items under the sink I discovered that they were soaking wet. My initial response was to panic and to get upset because I had apparently discovered a problem. Thankfully God gave me a sense of peace as I investigated the source of the water. I found that the water was actually dripping from the garbage disposal. After texting my husband for information he advised I just not use that side of the sink for now. Meanwhile I had a mess with all of the under the sink clutter pulled out on the floor around me. Again my initial response was to become aggravated and frustrated and again God changed my outlook and helped me realize this was an opportunity to jump in with both feet with decluttering under the sink as I had just read in the email I received that morning. See how quickly God changed my perspective on a once perceived disaster?

Be aware of interruptions today. Is God saving you from a larger problem? Take time to look for God’s blessings in the interruption.Let’s pray. Dear God, Thank You for interruptions that prevent a bigger problem. Help me to take time to look for Your blessings within interruptions. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

We often perceive an interruption as a nuisance or aggravation. Perhaps we should seize the moment and allow interruptions to affect us in a positive way. Perhaps we should allow the once perceived aggravation of an interruption to be an opportunity for us to affect others in a positive way. Let’s pause and read an example of Jesus responding to an interruption. Click here to read Matthew 14:13-21 NIV.

How did Jesus respond to an interruption to His day? How do you respond to interruptions? Do you use interruptions to positively affect you or others? Do you need to change your mindset towards interruptions?

Let’s pray. Dear God, Help me to respond in a positive way to interruptions. Allow me to use interruptions to positively affect others as Jesus would. Mold my mindset. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Romans 8:28 NIV — And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Merriam-Webster defines interrupt as to stop or hinder by breaking in. Let’s face it, we do not like to be interrupted. Whether we are working, reading, relaxing, on the go, etc., we do not like for our current path to be changed or interrupted. Today, allow your interruptions to be a time to standstill and worship God. This week, let’s be aware of times our schedule is interrupted and be open to ways God is using the interruption to work for our good.

Let’s pray. Dear God, Open my eyes to Your interruptions. May I see Your interruptions as an opportunity to standstill and worship You. May I trust that You are working all things out for my good. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.