Interrupted Intentions

By Victoria Kiker

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.”

Psalms 37:23

I heard a preacher once say that not only are the steps of a good man ordered by the Lord, but also the stops. We often think success (in any area of life) is determined by our forward motion. We’re “successful” in “the steps” of life. But what if we changed our mindset? What if we began to see the stops, not as little annoyances and interruptions, but divine design and appointment?

As a wife, homeschooling mother of four, business owner, and active church member, I daily encounter many interruptions. Regretfully, I often have seen these “interruptions” as irritating distractions that keep me from a greater goal. The numerous requests and need-meeting have often left me irritated and frustrated (diaper changes, nursing sessions, requests for another snack, kissing skinned knees, refereeing a squabble, cleaning spills, working on school assignments, making yet another meal, the list could go on and on and yours could too). By the way, you don’t have to be a wife or a mother to experience interruptions; they are daily occurrences for all of us. Plans change, financial hardships come, appointments canceled, traffic, sickness, etc.

But what if we began to see these distractions as divine stops in our day-time to stop, reflect, and even pray?

I’ve been reading a lot in the Gospels lately. Many times you’ll find Jesus with His disciples in a forward motion in ministry. They are literally moving about through cities and the countryside, when all at once, Jesus stops. He is stopped to aid blind men, to heal men and women of various diseases, to cast out evil spirits, to hold a child, to raise the dead, to calm a storm, to make a meal, to teach. Over and over, the Lord is interrupted by people. Yet, the Lord didn’t complain. He didn’t breathe a huge sigh of irritation at being interrupted yet another time. Jesus’ ministry was found in the interruptions of life. They weren’t little accidents that took Him by surprise or postponed His ultimate goal. They were His goal! I’m certain the woman with the issue of blood was forever grateful that Jesus didn’t mind her interruption.

The interruptions were part of His plan. He received glory in the interruption. Lives were changed when He was interrupted.

Lately, my prayer has been, “Lord, let me see You in the interruption; may my attitude please You in the delay; may You receive glory in this stop.” We live in such a fast-paced world that many times we miss the lessons that can be found in the slow moments. God can get glory even in the halting moments of distraction and delay, if we allow it, if the posture of our heart is to please Him. May I too find my ministry not only in the steps of life, but in the stops.

The ending of Psalms 37:23 says, “and he delighteth in his way.” My desire is for the Lord Jesus to look at my life, the steps that I’ve taken as well as the stops that have slowed me down for a bit, and take delight in what He sees. I pray my attitude and my heart are delightful to Him. Sadly, I know that hasn’t always been the case. Even now, as I sit writing, my four children are running around me in the yard. I have been interrupted with…“Hey, mom, check out this lizard!”, “Can we build a fire?”, footballs flying around my head, childish whoops and screams of delight and still, I need reminding to guard my attitude. Convicting for sure! I truly want those around me to know that I delight in them just as I want my Father to delight in me. One day, I’ll miss these little interruptions. So, let me take the time to smile at them, look into their eyes, and let them know that I find them utterly delightful.

I’ll leave you with this quote by C.S. Lewis: “The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one’s ‘own’ or ‘real’ life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s real life – the life God is sending one day by day: what one calls one’s ‘real life’ is a phantom of one’s own imagination.” 

Dear reader, in the rhythm of life, may we never miss the point or the person of the interruption. They are by divine design!