How to Handle Interruptions
Ever have one of those days where your best-laid plans go down the toilet? Yep, me too.
Last night I went for a bike ride with my daughters. My husband got a head start jogging on foot, and our plan was to catch up to him somewhere along our usual route. The girls thought it would be great fun to shout, “Dad, we found you!” and then bike the rest of the way home while my husband tried to keep up at a running pace.
But about halfway along the trail, I ran into an old friend who was walking her dog. A passing “hi” turned into a ten-minute conversation, during which my daughters kept giving me the stink eye because time was running out.
The longer I talked, the wider the gap grew between us and my husband. By the time I broke away from chatting and resumed our bike ride, my husband was indeed nearly home. And we missed our chance to surprise him.
My daughters were mad at me the rest of the night.
Our best ideas don’t always go as planned, do they? Life gets interrupted by all sorts of distractions, even good ones—like my visit with an old friend.
So when we get derailed, how should we handle it?
We can choose to grumble, or we can choose to see the change as God’s plan. And I’m not just talking about a bike ride. This concept applies to any thwarted plan in life—like a job loss, an unexpected move, a broken relationship, this little thing called The Year of the Pandemic… and so much more.
What to us seems like an interruption is to God simply staying the course.
The question is, do we trust His course?
Sometimes I get so stuck on my own ideas on how life is supposed to go, I miss out on what God has in store for me instead. Or, rather, I miss out on experiencing the joy and wonder of God’s plan, just because it’s different from what I arranged or expected. I will still face whatever “interruption” God has in mind, like it or not—and sadly, I’ll see it as a burden rather than a blessing.
Do you do that, too?
One of the most grounded verses in my Bible says this:
“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)
Do you know what that means? It means God knows what’s in store for all our days, and we must be taught to appreciate them. To see them the way He sees them. And when we do? We’ll be wiser.
We’ll be more like Him.
What better plan could there be for our days than that?
So. I did promise my daughters we’d try for the sneak-up-on-Dad bike ride again another evening this week. But I also encouraged them to trust the interruption, just as I’m figuring out how to trust the interruptions, too. We parents are learning right along with our kids.
And thankfully—we have a very patient Teacher.
Praise Jesus.
Blessings,
Becky Kopitzke
Beckykopitzke.com
