Interruptions

On Sunday, my pastor said something that I just can't get off my mind. He was preaching about prayer, and specifically about praying with thanksgiving. It was very well presented, and I was taking notes and nodding along in agreement with all he was saying. He gave an example of praying in the morning and asking God to control our day and to bring us opportunities. Amen, I thought! For the past several years, I have been including that as part of my daily time alone with God. I've been asking him for guidance throughout my day, and for ways to show His love, and I've been privileged to see God working. I was feeling pretty good about myself! I was doing what the preacher said! Dr. Winburn then started to talk about how often, after we pray a prayer like that, we find our day interrupted. Things happen that we weren't expecting, and it just throws us off. Oh man! Tell me about it!
Then, he said something that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck.
" God is in charge of your interruptions. Give thanks for those, too."
Whoa. I'm not exactly sure what he said after that, because those words continued to ring in my heart and mind. I mulled that over throughout the day, and I realized how true his words are. Those so-called interruptions are often OPPORTUNITIES that God is bringing into my path. They are part of the "ordering of my day" that I pray about so fervently. Many times, I do know that God has allowed me to see that, and to know that He has brought certain circumstances together in order to allow me to be part of His work that day. Other times, I miss it completely.
Today, my day was interrupted several times, and because I was looking for it, I saw clearly what God's purposes were for those encounters with those specific people. Praise God my eyes were opened today, because I was given a very unexpected opportunity to share the story of how Jesus changed my life. Thanks for that interruption, Lord!
So, here's the thing that's been on my mind. If it is true that God is in charge of our pesky little daily interruptions, then what about the BIG interruptions? You know, the kinds of interruptions that intrude on our dreams, plans, and goals: my father-in-law's brain tumor, my mom's dementia, the trials that so many of my precious friends are dealing with.
Whether God causes or permits these things to come into our lives, for me, it is a comfort to know that nothing will come my way that has not passed through my Father's hands first. He has entrusted each of us with different "interruptions" in life, and from each one, we are given an opportunity. We can either allow those challenges to make us bitter and angry, or we can allow God to use them to teach us, help us grow, and mold us into the image of Christ.
The choice is ours. I choose to thank Him for the interruptions, for being with me to hold me as I walk through them, and to ask Him to continue to make me more like Christ.

"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 ...In all this, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Romans 8:28 & 37