Do interruptions frustrate you?

They did me for quite some time.

I think back on the days when my house was full of young children. Accomplishing a task as simple as putting laundry away was a mere pipe-dream with little ones running around. They had endless questions and needs that required stopping what I was doing in order to attend to them.

Countless days were filled with frustration because it seemed as though I couldn’t finish the most basic of chores without being interrupted.

I was shortsighted and couldn’t see beyond the scope of my to-do list. The things I needed to accomplish felt more important to me than turning my attention to the people around me who had needs.

Call it type-A personality, immaturity, or selfishness. Whatever it was, God was merciful and patiently went to work on the heart of the matter.

Passages like those found in Matthew 9 began to convict me and show me the value of interruptions.

Matthew 9 details a series of events as Jesus was going about His day. The writer uses phrases like “just then”, “suddenly”, and “as they were going” to describe one interruption after another.

As Jesus was speaking with a group of people, He was approached by a man pleading that He come and heal his daughter (vs. 18 – 19). As He was heading off to do that, He was interrupted by a woman who had been sick for years (vs. 20 – 22).

After addressing these two needs, a couple blind men cried out for His attention followed quickly by a demon-possessed man (vs. 27 – 34).

In just this chapter alone, His journey from Point A to Point B was filled with multiple interruptions and never once did Jesus get frustrated or chastise the person for their inconvenient timing.

There’s no record of Him making them feel like they were a bother or a nuisance.

On the contrary, He purposefully embraced each interruption and viewed them as opportunities.

Opportunities to minister His love, shine His light, extend eternal hope and offer in-the-moment care.

Because He saw the people.

The people – like you and me – that He would die for.

The ones who were so important and loved by the Father that He would give His only begotten Son in order to make a way for them to be part of His family forever.

While I still don’t handle every interruption with perfect grace, my prayer is that I would continue to look more and more like Jesus as I see people in the moment and keep learning to embrace every interruption as an opportunity to love like my Savior.

Until next time, Grace and Glory!