“But Jesus was sleeping.” Matthew 8:24b
I have a confession. I do not handle interruptions well. In fact, I hate them. I am a very one tracked mind kind of person. Once I start focusing on something it consumes my mind.
Guess who handled interruptions well? Jesus!
I am doing the study “We Saved You a Seat” by Lisa Jo Baker. It’s a study of friendship. I just completed a section that talked about how Jesus was constantly interrupted. Not only was He constantly interrupted, but He welcomed the interruptions.
Here are a few examples:
Matthew 8:5-13: Jesus is on His way to the city of Capernum. He’s interrupted by a Centurion with a sick servant. Jesus stopped what he was doing, listened to the man and healed his servant.
Matthew 8:28-34: Jesus is on his way to Gadarenes when He encounters two men filled with demons. He stops His journey and actually converses with the demons. Then He promptly sends them into some nearby pigs, who then run over the edge of the cliff. He leaves the two men demon free.
Matthew 9:20-22: This one has always been near and dear to my heart. There is a woman who has been bleeding for 12 years. (By bleeding, we mean a 12 year menstrual cycle.) Jesus is on His way to Jarius’ house when He feels energy leave Him. Literally, He is surrounded by crowds of people and He feels energy leave Him. When He looks around He finds this poor woman who has lived all these years in misery. Her faith is so strong, she knows if she just touch’s His cloak she will be healed. Jesus stops and heals her. He frees this woman from her agony.
There are many more, those are just a few. All of them Jesus is awake. He’s going somewhere. He gets interrupted. He doesn’t get mad. He loves the people who interrupted Him. He heals them and encourages them. One thing He does not do is get angry. He doesn’t yell at them. He doesn’t make them feel bad for stopping Him. In no way does He make them feel bad for bothering Him.
Oh to be more like Jesus!
My favorite though is Matthew 8:18, 23-27. Jesus is sleeping. He’s on a boat with His Disciples heading across the Sea of Galilee. A big storm has blown up and the Disciples are scared. They wake Jesus up! Nothing bothers me more than being woken up. Not Jesus, He simply wakes up and tells them to have more faith, then calms the storm. I like to think He was able to go right back to sleep, but Scripture doesn’t tell us whether He did or not.
My point is, Jesus was interruptible. Whether he was traveling, teaching or sleeping, He stopped what He was doing for those that came to Him. There is a lesson to be learned here. We need to be interruptible.
What does it mean to be interruptible?
If we take our cue from Jesus, it means putting others first. It means people are more important than our agenda. It means noticing those around us. It means seeing a need and meeting a need. It means being more like Jesus.
In my world, it means I have a lot of work to do. Instead of hating interruptions, I need to embrace them. Instead of counting them as a curse, I need to look at them as a blessing. My heart is to love people more than my agenda. In order for me to be interruptible, I need more Jesus and less Beth.
What about you? What do you need to be interruptible?
Be Interruptible
