An invitation to be interrupted

By joannsblog2016 on September 19, 2021 • ( 0 )

We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Ever read something in the Bible and you were picked up and transported to a period in your life?

One Sunday morning, after reading the first reading from Isaiah 35:4-7, I was brought back to recurring lunch dates with Jesus. This reading stirred deep reflections on my life and how Christ walked beside me in every moment.

“Thus says the Lord, say to those whose hearts are frightened: be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication, with divine recompense. He comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing. Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the steppe. The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water.”
Isaiah 35:4-7

There was a time in my life when my faith was not my priority. It was slowly taking baby steps and through a season of turmoil in my life it leaped. That leap was a result of a frightened soul within a body that was going through motions to survive. Prayer and a friend led me to discover the best kept secret in my Catholic faith. ADORATION! Scurrying to the chapel during my lunch break became a regular. During these lunch dates, I found safety, my eyes and my ears opened and my heart sang for joy. My faith came alive, sustaining me throughout the day to face all that lay outside of that place of refuge.

Each lunch I spent in Jesus’ presence, I grew stronger and more courageous. I didn’t quite know that this was happening within me until replaying this season in my life. The joy I experienced as my heart was set on fire was met with much sorrow and many struggles before the streams of water began to flow.

The changes happening beneath the surface of my body and the events that took place months later, were indications that Christ was walking with me, He was 100 % present in that Host in the chapel. He was there to save me.

I share this with you because to me it is a realization of God’s presence in our lives when we leave the door open for Him to walk in and interrupt us. He knew for me I needed a leap in my faith. It took me opening a crack in the door that allowed Him to leap through it, drawing me to people and places that would provide me what I would need to save myself from an unhealthy situation.

The other day, I was listening to a homily by Fr. Mike Schmitz. In his homily, he sited a quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer – “we must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God.”

Often we go about our daily lives with a schedule or routine and when something causes those plans to change it becomes frustrating. What if some of these interruptions were God trying to get our attention? What if it was Him asking us to use our gifts and talents for His good? Or something that will draw us closer to Him?

What does it mean to be ready to allow God to interrupt us?

Perhaps, it’s opening the door to allow God the opportunity to walk in at the right time and location? Or an act of surrender, allowing Him to hand us a tool, give us a thought, or a nudge.

As I meditated on that period in my life, I began to realize that by opening my heart, I extended the invitation to God to interrupt my life. He walked right on in introducing me to Adoration, strengthening and guiding me to regain my self-worth. Where would I be today if I hadn’t allowed Him to interrupt my life as I knew it then?

Can you name some times when God interrupted you or tried to interrupt your daily life?

What about the time He called you when you were about to relax with a book and your ears met sounds of a friend on the other end of the phone that was so upset, she could barely speak a word? Or the time you were in a hurry walking to an appointment or busy on the phone and passed Him without acknowledging He was present? Or the moment you felt a nudge to share your faith with someone but didn’t feel it was as important as the current conversation you were engaged in? Or the time you were eating a meal as He sat beside you without anything to eat? Or the time He was whispering to you to visit Him as you passed the chapel?

Makes us wonder how often God is there to interrupt our lives and we don’t realize it because the door isn’t opened.

Christ tells us in order to follow Him, we must deny ourself.

The invitation today is to let God interrupt us, because to deny ourselve would be to acknowledge that our time and talents are not ours. When you see the tool before you, pick it up. When you feel that nudge or hear the whisper act on it. Allow God to walk in and interrupt your day.

Lord, today I pray that I may practice surrender of self, giving you my time and talent by allowing you to interrupt my day when You have a desire to do so. Amen