Divine interruptions

I’m supposed to be at a hotel on a river right now, sitting by the pool or patio, relaxing with a good book, enjoying a long overdue weekend away with my husband.

Luggage packed?  Check

Jeep cleaned?  Check

Garbage taken out?  Check

Mark home from work?    Mark?     Mark????

I’m still at home waiting….

I am, however, miraculously relaxed, content in the waiting.  This is big.  I am the one who plans the schedule down to the minute.  This type of delay typically sends me into great levels of anxiety, frustrated as the minutes quickly pass and eat away at what was supposed to be mine.  But not today.

So many of my posts are about learning to rest.  It is a choice that I am making today to enjoy where I am.  To trust in my God who is infinitely more prepared for this day than I would ever be.  To rely on my Father to lead me and protect me by whatever method He sees best.

When was the last time you were delayed?  Perhaps we share the uncanny ability to select the slowest possible check-out lane when we shop.  Maybe frequent travel is a part of your life and you find yourself spending countless hours at the airport waiting for flights that will not be on time.  Or a simple glass of spilled milk altered the plan. Or a dead battery.

Some of these delays are easily remedied and our plans are quickly back on track.  Some bring a complete halt to any forward motion toward the goal.  Some make us rethink our plans and take a different route.  Some leave us stranded where we don’t want to be.  Is it possible that God has purpose in what we most often see as wasted time?

Maybe our delays open the door for something miraculous to happen.  We’ve all heard stories of people who ended up in places they hadn’t planned and amazing things occurred – or didn’t occur.  A delay that saved our lives would never be seen as wasted or resented.  But what if these things are happening all the time and we just don’t know it?

What if we began to see the delays in life as divine interruptions?  What if we began to live our lives as if we really believed God is leading us because we asked Him to?  Even when His leading stops us cold.  Faith in His good plans for us is where we find rest.  Even if we don’t get what we want.

What if in the delays we begin to see Him more clearly, trust Him more deeply, and rest in Him more fully?

Miracles do happen in delays, just ask Mark.  I haven’t been burning his phone up all afternoon!