My sweet mother-in-love, Becky, sent me a video of Gloria Gaither (of Bill & Gloria…the couple that’s written more gospel songs than anyone on the planet.) In this video, she’s telling a friend “God is in the interruptions.”
I just love what she says. And even though Becky kindly said to me, “She sounds like your writing…wise!” (which is more humbling than you can grasp,) I couldn’t say this any better than Gloria does.
So this blog is Gloria Gaither’s words…not mine. And as you read, pay close attention. Because the message in this conversation is absolutely priceless.
It IS wise. It’s true. It’s useful. And it’s so freeing.
Enjoy!
———
God is in the interruptions, but He’s seldom in my plans.
He doesn’t mind if we have our plans, but He doesn’t mind interrupting them, either.
What caused me to first think about that? My life.
It actually happened when I turned 60. When I turned 60, I thought, “Wow, I’m just now figuring out what I want to be when I grow up.” And I thought, “If I wrote the story of my life, what would make the book?”
And that’s what made me stop and say, “Everything that would make the book was an interruption.” But then I thought, “I think everything that made the book for Jesus was an interruption.”
In the whole New Testament, it says, “He was on His way to teach His disciples”…and as far as I know, they never got taught. Lol Because someone would say, “Son of David, have mercy on me” or the woman who touched the hem of His garment.
In fact, on His way to heal a woman that had already interrupted Him, He was interrupted in His grieving for John the Baptist. And finally, seeing His exhaustion, the disciples said, “Get in this boat and we’re gonna take you to the other side.” But the whole country followed Him to the other side. And He ended up feeding 5,000 people.
Interruptions. Time after time after time after time.
And I thought, “Ok, so why am I so bent out of shape about interruptions?”
If I had my life to live over, the only thing I would change is I would sigh fewer sighs of exasperation. I would have known sooner that this is God’s adventure. I would make my list…which is ok…and I would say, “I wonder how God is gonna mess this up today? How’s He going to hijack my life?”
So instead of saying, “Oh, shoot!” I would say, “Ok, that’s [the interruption] for today.”
Life is full of changes, but life is about signing up for the Changer. Change isn’t necessarily good. Change can be evil. It can be bad. Only rejoice in the change if you know God is in it.
Let’s consider praise. When you stand with your arms held high, you’re basically saying, “God, You can take anything out of my hands that you want to. And You can put anything in my hands that You want to.” It’s a very vulnerable position., because you’re not protecting yourself.
So it’s not just welcoming change, it’s welcoming resurrection. And the truth is, the resurrection is all around us. It’s a whole new way of everything. So you talk about change? His resurrection was the change point! He came to make all things new.
— — — — —
Oh wow! See what I mean? I really couldn’t have said it any better. And if any of it doesn’t make sense, just remember that she was saying all this in a surprise, impromptu conversation.
So as you go about your day today and every day henceforth, sigh less sighs of exasperation. Allow your life to be interrupted by God. And you know what? Even when the people in our life…family, friend, stranger…interrupt us and our list of to-do’s, sigh a sigh of release. Because God’s about to do something that you don’t want to miss!
the girl ramsey 