Interruption or Appointment?

Like you and probably most every other person on the planet, I’m busy. Often, there’s more to-dos than there is of today. Which, I will confess, is largely the fault of my inability to utter one simple little word: no. (I realize I have now gifted you with the knowledge of my own personal kryptonite. Please don’t take advantage. Seriously. Please.)

Because I am busy, I keep a list of tasks I need to accomplish, and I am on a daily mission to finish that list. Which practically never happens. Why?

Interruptions.

And the busier I am, the more interruptions there seem to be.

The dogs need to go out, or come in, or toggle back and forth between the two for a while. The phone rings, the email pings, or the doorbell sings. I’m stopped in traffic or stopped in the store or stopped in my tracks by that task I forgot to put on my list.

Is that just me? No? I didn’t think so.

A Universal Problem

I suspect it’s a universal problem. I even see it in the Christmas story.

After the wonderful (but still incredibly surprising) news of the Baby to come, Mary and Joseph have no doubt settled into a routine of daily life. Build and do carpentry kinds of things. Cook and wash and stitch up baby clothes. Prepare for the Messiah. I’m sure their to-do lists—though different from ours—were plenty full.

Then . . . wham! Some guy named Augustus on the other side of the empire decides to throw out a decree . . .

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. (Luke 2:1–5, NIV)

Now, that’s an interruption!

Or was it?

More Than an Interruption

A quick peek at Micah 5:2 tells us that there was more to this interruption than a not-so-quick trip to Bethlehem: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel” (Micah 5:2).

No, rather than an interruption, this decree was a divine appointment. It was an appointment made by a prophecy of God some seven hundred years before, and it was fulfilled when Joseph and a very expectant Mary made their way into the little town of Bethlehem.

What Have I Missed?

This interruption-turned-divine appointment makes me rethink things a bit. Is it possible that I’m missing out on God’s plans for me and my day because I’m so set and determined to carry out my own plans for the day? Could that inconvenience, that delay, that worst possible timing actually be the perfect timing for His perfect plan?

What If We Looked for God?

Instead of being frustrated by interruptions and changes to our plans, what if we chose to look for God in those moments? Or for an opportunity to be part of His plans?

What if we took all those interruptions and inconveniences—all those unexpected errands and expenses, all those hijacked holiday plans—and entrusted them to God. What if we expected Him to show up in the midst of all the unexpected? What if we decided to make the playlist of our lives a little less “Run, Run Rudolph” and a little more “Away in a Manger.”

What if we simply took a deep breath and allowed our hearts to head for Bethlehem?