Storms

Well...what a crazy week. It is 12:49AM, and I am just now sitting down to write this devotion for you guys. Doesn't that make you feel good about your devotional life. The guy who is in charge of writing for you sometimes forgets all about it.

It's been a crazy week.

I'm sure all of you have had these kind of weeks. Today, I had class all morning, worked this afternoon, and it was just a normal, easygoing day. Then I went to my friend's rehearsal for his wedding tomorrow and I locked my keys in my car. The spare was with my wife who didn't know how to get to where I was and I didn't have good enough phone service to tell her the crazy directions. So I rode with someone to the rehearsal dinner.

I had a test I had to take back at Ozark at 7, and dinner started at six-thirty, I didn't eat with the best of manners.

So I borrowed someone's car, drove to the school to take my test, ran back as quickly as possible to try and get seconds (I love Hackett's too much to not get seconds), and then I thought my crazy night was over. I was going to drop by my house after the bachelor party, grab the spare key from Monica and my friend was going to take me to pick up my car. Perfect plan, except that I forgot to tell Monica.

So when we arrived at my house 10 minutes ago, the door was locked and she was asleep. So now I am crashing at some friends' house until I can get the spare key tomorrow.

What a crazy day.

And now I am here, remembering that I am supposed to be writing a devotion on Matthew 8.28-34.

Well...

You all deserve better than me throwing something together for ya.

Don't we all just have crazy days like this?

Mine wasn't even that bad, just inconvenient, but it is interesting how I have let some mishaps occurred and I have acted like my day has been totally ruined.

But it hasn't.

It really has been a great day.

I got to learn about God's word, work at a job that I LOVE, go to the wedding rehearsal of a friend that I love deeply (and also I just love weddings), eat a ton of wings at Hacketts, hang out with some buys at a bachelor party, the Christian version, and now I get the opportunity to write something to help you guys in your daily devotions to Jesus.

So is the cup half full or half empty?

It's both....but I feel like that isn't the question that needs to be asked. The question is always, what are you going to do with it?

A mentor of mine said something very interesting, a thought that I think does apply to the section of scripture that we are in.

He said this, "most every person that Jesus comes into contact with, every healing and conversation, is the direct result of an interruption."

An interruption? Really?

Yes.

Jesus had an agenda, he was going somewhere with some plan, doing something, and a man with leprosy came up to him, or a centurion brings a request about his servant, or Jesus finally gets to one of his disciples' home, and the guys mother-in-law is sick. He is interrupted by guys asking if they can follow him, but first they want to take care of their father, the disciples get caught in a storm, and even this next passage, two demon possessed guys run up to Jesus, taunting him.

Yet Jesus heals the leper, heals the centurion's servant, makes the mother-in-law well, answers the questions, calms the storm, and as we will see, frees the men who are possessed by the demons. And all these are situations in which someone interrupted Jesus in his day to day life.

A professor of mine keeps a sign above his door that is a quote from a guy named Henri Nouwen that says this: "The interruptions are your work."

Think about this for a moment.

I realised that because of what happened to me today, I was able to minister to the groom before his big day, just helping him calm some of his nerves, I was able to see some friends I hadn't seen in awhile, and even I was encouraged by a guy loaning me his car and another friend allowing him to stay at his place tonight.

Not only do interruptions give you opportunities to bless others, but you are able to receive blessing as well.

So was it a crazy day?

YES, it was definitely crazy.

Would I change it?

well....no. Not in a million years. Because, when interruptions occur, this is when Jesus is really at his best. And as his followers, interruptions are our work.

So today, pray for interruptions.