Divine Interruptions

There have been a few others since then.

One of the things that intrigues me most about life is the possibility of these divine interruptions.

Life can become so routine and predictable. You get up in the morning—go to work—do your job—come home and do a few chores—get some rest—and go to work the next morning. But just about the time you think nothing will ever change, God interrupts the routine and gives you a fresh assignment.

That new chapter in your life may or may not involve a geographic move. It may or may not mean a job change. It may or may not bring new relationships into your life. All those are possibilities. But when God comes on the scene in that way something marvelous always happens in our lives.

Consider with me this morning:

I. The Sovereignty of Divine Interruptions

II. The Opportunity of Divine Interruptions

III. The Responsibility of Divine Interruptions

I. The Sovereignty of Divine Interruptions

A divine interruption is a good reminder of Who’s in charge. It is something I cannot control or even predict. God does it when He wants to—where He wants to—how He wants to.

There’s always a surprise element in a divine interruption. That surprise element makes life extremely interesting. I’m glad I don’t know everything God has prepared for me. I like the fact that He has some nice surprises already planned out for my days ahead.

Notice in Exodus 3 this divine interruption came quite unexpectedly into Moses’ life. The chapter opens with these words, “Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law…” He was just doing his job, minding his own business, making a living. He didn’t even have his own flock—it was Jethro’s flock. He worked for his father-in-law. I think Moses had pretty well settled into this routine work and had given up all hope of ever doing anything really significant in life.

Have you ever had your bubble burst—your hopes so dashed that you really felt it painful to even hope again? Moses had gone through a terrible disappointment. When he was forty years old he thought he was going to do a great thing for God. He felt God’s call on his life—a call to deliver the children of Israel out of bondage. He was a man of action and he stepped right into the work. He killed a cruel Egyptian taskmaster and got the ball rolling. But the ball didn’t roll in the direction he expected. Nobody recognized his call but him. And he didn’t know what to do with it. He thought the Israelites would realize that God called him to deliver them. But their response to him was, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us?” (1) His efforts were a total failure.

That disappointment crushed Moses and left him resigned to a life of obscurity. I suspect the call of God continued to churn in his soul, but I don’t think he ever expected to fulfill it. He was just doing his job and staying out of trouble. There he was in the dessert. There he came to Horeb which means “The Waste.” (2) Have you ever felt like you were just wasting time and getting nowhere? That’s when this divine interruption occurred—in a dry dessert, in a boring, at a most unexpected time.