Temple Baptist Life

The other day I had been studying feverishly on a sermon and it just wasn’t coming together. Finally, the Lord helped me and showed me how it would come together. I was ready to record the thoughts when the phone rings. I pick up the phone and talk for about 10 minutes. Then I come back to record the notes for the sermon but unfortunately I have completely forgotten those thoughts and the rest of the day I frantically try to remember what was revealed to me before that phone call.

A man was putting tin roof on his barn when all the sudden he slipped and began to slide down the roof. He cried out to God to save him when no sooner he got the words out of his mouth a nail caught his pants and stopped him. When he stopped he said, “never mind God I took care of it”. The problem isn’t that God doesn’t intervene anymore the problem is we’re not looking for God to intervene.

Have you ever been interrupted in life by an intervention of God? If so you are blessed. It is a demonstration of mercy and grace when God does that. I am forever grateful for those divine interruptions in the course of my life. When I was fourteen years old God came into my life in a special way. He made me aware of His plan for my life. He made me aware of my need to serve Him with my whole life. In fact, He placed His hand upon my whole family and turned us all toward Him. One of the things that intrigues me most about life is the possibility of these divine interruptions.

Have you ever heard the saying, “Life is what happens when you’re making other plans?” We have the whole thing mapped out, and then life happens and our course is changed. If we truly live and experience life, we soon discover we can’t control life, that it never goes quite as planned, there are a lot of surprises along the way.

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.

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.

Have you ever had your bubble burst—your hopes so dashed that you really felt it painful to even hope again? Divine interruptions are always a work of grace. They are always a reflection of God’s sovereignty. They are always according to His purposes.
I find it very encouraging to know that God could show up at any time, any place, for any reason and change everything. For some that may sound more like a threat than a promise. But I like an unpredictable element in life. I’m glad God is in charge. I’m glad I can’t control Him or predict Him. I just need to follow Him.

Opportunity knocks when God shows up. Is He knocking on your door this moment? Open your heart to the possibilities and see what He can do. It’s not over ‘till it’s over, and if you’re breathing right now it’s not over.
There was a little Jewish girl about fifteen years old engaged to a man named Joseph. In the world’s eyes she was nothing special. But God sees deep into the heart. And He gave this little Jewish girl the greatest privilege any human being has ever had—the privilege of giving birth to the SAVIOR. Her opportunity came suddenly. It didn’t come randomly—it wasn’t luck—for she was a virgin of Israel highly favored of God. Oh, what an opportunity came with that visitation.
God is not asking you and me to do what we can do for Him—He doesn’t need that at all. God is asking you and me to let Him do through us what we could never do ourselves. Amen?

It requires humility. It requires dependence. It requires faith and obedience. There is nothing in your life or my life better than the will of God. There is no better plan than the one God has for us. Divine interruptions seem to carry a message and a calling with them.

A young pastor was serving in his first pastorate after seminary. The church he was called to was a very old church in the Bible belt and had been built on a piece of ground donated by a family that had a long history in the community. Everyone in the church talked about their love for God and their church, but the young pastor had a tremendous problem of getting anyone to do anything, even to do maintenance on the building they claimed to love so much.

The foundation had given way on one side of the building and because of the years of neglect was on the verge of collapse. The young pastor tried and tried to get the church to act, but to no avail the church failed to act. The pastor took it upon his own to have an engineer look at the building, and the result was that the cost was huge, over $100,000 and the county was about to declare the building to be unfit to be used. The pastor finally got a special business called to act on the shape of the building. During the business meeting all the facts were laid out about the building. There did not seem to be any great response. Out of frustration, the pastor bowed his head and silently prayed, “God hit these people over the head and wake them up!”

At that moment one elderly deacon stood and cleared his throat, “Pastor, I love my church so I will be glad to donate $100 to fix up this building that I love so much.” Everyone in the meeting nodded their heads and seemed to very impressed. Not to be out done another elderly deacon stood and said, “Pastor, I too love this church. My family has been a part of this church since it was birthed. Therefore, I will give $1000 to fix our church.” There was a hushed whisper that swept through the gathered congregation.

A third deacon, who was very wealthy and could have given the money to pay for the repair out of his own pocket and never missed the funds. He was one who was given to long winded speeches and little action in the church. He stood and said, “Pastor, My family has been a part of this church since its forming, My great grandfather, my grandfather, my father, were deacons in this church. My family donated the land to build this church over 100 years ago. I too serve as deacon in this church and I love our fine church….he droned on and on …. Finally reached the end his speech and said I will give $10,000 to fix our church.” A round of oohs and ahhs broke out as those present were very impressed by such a generous gesture. Even though that was a generous gift it still wasn’t enough. Just as this deacon started to return to his seat, a piece of plaster fell from the ceiling and hit him right on top of his head. The deacon jumped to his feet and yelled, “Pastor, make that $20,000!!” The young pastor bowed his head and prayed, “Lord, Hit him again, hit him again!” I pray God will bring interruptions into our lives and our church.