January 13, 2013 – Pastor Tim – “Life’s Interruptions” – Click to download
2 Samuel 15:15 “And the king’s servants said to the king, “We are your servants, ready to do whatever my lord the king commands.” Are we really ready to do whatever our Lord asks? If He appoints us to indoor work, why do we want so much to be outdoors? If He gives us what we consider a meaningless task, why do we want to be so important? Why are we so bothered when He sends an interrupting visitor, rich or poor, to who we must speak, and/or be kind for His sake? Are we really ready for today’s appointments? Have we prepared our hearts and our minds for life’s interruptions?
Today I want to talk about “Life’s Interruptions.” There are times in life when things just don’t seem to go the way we’ve planned. Interruptions can either make us or break us. We can learn from life’s experiences, or we can become resentful and closed off to all that God has for us.
For example, when we read the Old Testament story of Joseph, we see that Joseph’s life was interrupted by some experiences that could have left him bitter and resentful. In each trial that Joseph faced in life, he had a choice to make. He could allow each setback to make him into the man God desired him to be, or he could allow life’s circumstances to break him and bring disillusionment.
For example, when his brothers sold him into slavery, Joseph could have chosen to be bitter. And when he was thrown into prison, Joseph could have again become resentful and angry. After all, people had failed Joseph! Not only did his own brothers sell him into slavery, but Pharaoh’s wife lied about him, and the cupbearer forgot about him. Joseph had every opportunity to lose faith, not only in people, but also in his dreams!!
However, had Joseph become bitter, he would have never have achieved in life what God had already designed and purposed for him.
You see, each of us can use life’s interruptions to make us or break us. We can use these experiences for the glory of God by allowing them to make and mold us into the people God needs us to be to complete His work on the earth.
For example, life’s interruptions can teach us how to handle our pride. Many times life doesn’t go quite like we think it should because we think more highly of ourselves than we should. But if we will allow God to teach us in the situations of life instead of just griping and complaining, we can grow spiritually and profit by life’s experiences.
Romans 12:2 & 3, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
God has a plan, and if we will allow them to, life’s interruptions can prepare us for greater service for God.
When life doesn’t go just exactly as we think it should, instead of getting negative and downcast, we need to look for the light of God at the end of the tunnel. When interruptions come along, and we’re feeling overwhelmed, we should go to our God and ask, “Father, please use this situation to prepare me for greater service for You.”
Life’s interruptions not only prepared Joseph for greater service, these interruptions—the pit, Potiphar, and the prison—equipped him to assist Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt.
Also, life’s interruptions caused Joseph to be in a position where doors opened to him that never would have opened otherwise. Genesis 41:41, And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”
In other words, Pharaoh placed Joseph in a unique position of authority. God had prepared Joseph well to succeed!
I’m sure that when Joseph was thrown into that pit as a boy and sold as a slave, he wondered how his dreams were ever going to come true. When he sat in that prison cell, Joseph may have questioned God, “How can this be possible? I know what You showed me?”
Romans 8:37-28, “Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
But God turned every one of life’s interruptions to Joseph’s benefit as he trusted God and did not allow his heart to become bitter and resentful. Because Joseph kept his heart right before God and allowed God to work in his life, He brought Joseph from the pit to the position of prime minister of Egypt!
Joseph came to a place of great prominence and success in life because he put his faith in God and refused to allow any interruption to keep him down!
Joseph allowed life’s experiences to teach him humility and that God can work in any situation. And Joseph let these interruptions teach him that God’s opportunities would remain available to him as long as he stayed obedient to God!
Luke 1:37, “For with God nothing will be impossible.” My life (as a believer in Christ) is every day to be a proof that God works impossibilities, my life is to be a series of impossibilities made possible by God’s almighty power. I do not want a little of God’s power…I want the whole of God’s grace to keep me right.
When we are confronted with life’s interruptions, stay in faith and declare, “My situation may be impossible with man, but it is possible with God.” Then allow God to turn that impossible situation in your life to your good and to His glory!
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