Real-Life Devotions by Lysa TerKeurstSýnishorn

Please Interrupt Me

I wonder if the greatest witnessing tool available to us Christians is often pushed aside because of our busyness. Just like our stuff, our time is a resource with which we can be tightfisted or openhanded. But when Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan, he showed us what it means to put our own interests aside and spend our time on others, especially “others” not in our own circle,

The other day I was focused on all the items on my seemingly never-ending to-do list. I was sitting at a stoplight when a friend called and started lamenting that her son had forgotten his lunch and his belt required by the school’s uniform policy. She was stressed and trying to get in touch with her husband, who had just dropped her son off at school. She was at home with a new baby, feeling groggy from a sleepless night and overwhelmed by her situation.

As I sat at the stoplight listening to my friend, I looked at the store to my right. That store had belts. That store had lunch food. Could I help? Would I help? That day I wouldn’t let busyness take precedence over the blessing of divine interruptions. So I helped.

I don’t know this for sure, but I suspect my friend had been asking Jesus to please help her. It’s hard when you need help but feel like everyone is busy you don’t want to bother them.

I’m a task-oriented person, so it doesn’t come naturally for me to look for ways to be interrupted in the midst of my busyness. But sitting at that stoplight, I realized the power of pausing. Pausing just long enough for Jesus to tap on the edge of my heart and say, “Could you? Would you? Will you do this as if it’s the most important part of your day and not an unwelcome interruption?”

How many times have I missed loving my “neighbor”? How many times have I missed the joy of pausing to live and love and light the world for Jesus?

By Lysa TerKeurst