I don’t know about you but I do not enjoy being interrupted. If I am mid-sentence or task I do not like stopping for something. At work this week I found myself getting annoyed with one of my coworkers. It felt like their goal was to interrupt any and everything I was doing. I tried to be nice. I tried to not let my agitation show. I definitely failed a couple of times. Then in the middle of my morning, the Holy Spirit began to check my bad attitude. After being interrupted for what felt like the hundredth time, I heard the word opportunity.
That was enough for me. I knew exactly what God was saying to me. I needed to stop looking at these moments as interruptions and start looking at them as opportunities — opportunities to help my coworker, show Christ, and simply be kind. I needed this lesson.
Jesus was interrupted multiple times. The Pharisees would interrupt his teachings to try to find wrong doing. The disciples would interrupt because they did not understand. The crowds would interrupt to receive healing. I can imagine this was frustrating at times. There was even a time when Jesus was trying to find a break from the masses and they followed him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 14). Jesus did not snap at these people. He did not blow them off. The Bible tells us he had compassion. Jesus saw all the interruptions as opportunities to teach, correct, and love. He saw the people and had compassion.
It is really easy for me to get caught up in what I’m doing. I can be stingy with my time, grace, and compassion. The Lord spent the other morning reminding me that it is not about me. He has me at my job for others. I needed to stop being selfish. The focus needed to come off of me and my tasks and turn to my coworker. I needed to stop using the word interruption and start using the word opportunity.
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