Interruptions Might Be Assignments

D E V O T I O N A L

I was already running behind when my phone rang.

Wrong name on the screen. Not the call I was waiting on, not anything urgent, just someone reaching out at the least convenient possible moment. And I stared at it for a second doing that mental math we all do. I don't have time for this right now. I'll call back later.

I answered anyway. Not because I am a good person, just because something in me said pick it up.

Forty minutes. That is how long we talked. And somewhere around minute five I realized this person was not calling to chat. They were struggling. Badly. They needed someone to hear them and I almost let it go to voicemail because I had a schedule to keep.

I got nothing done that morning that I planned to get done. And I have thought about that conversation a hundred times since.

The thing about interruptions…we treat them like obstacles. Something blocking the path to what we were actually supposed to be doing. The detour. The delay. The thing in the way.

But read the gospels sometime and pay attention to how much of Jesus' ministry happened in the interruptions.

He is on His way to heal Jairus's daughter, a genuine emergency, a dying child, and a woman in the crowd touches His robe. He stops. In the middle of an urgent errand, He stops and gives that woman His full attention. He is trying to get away to a quiet place and crowds follow Him, and instead of turning them away He has compassion and teaches them. Blind men calling out from the roadside while He is traveling. Children brought to Him while the disciples try to shoo them away. Over and over, the moments we would file under "not now" were the exact moments He turned toward.

Jesus was never annoyed by the interruption. Because for Him, the interruption often was the ministry.

I think we miss a lot because we are so locked into our plan for the day that we cannot see what God dropped into the middle of it. We build the schedule, we protect the schedule, and anything that disrupts the schedule gets treated as a problem instead of a possibility.

But what if some of those disruptions are assignments?

The coworker who catches you at the worst moment and clearly needs to talk. The kid who wants your attention right when you sat down. The neighbor, the phone call, the person who takes way too long telling you a story you did not have time for. Not all of it is God, sure. Some interruptions are just interruptions. But some of them are the day's actual purpose showing up disguised as an inconvenience.

Proverbs 16:9 says "We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps."

We make plans. He directs steps. And sometimes His direction shows up looking exactly like something ruining your morning.

I am not telling you to abandon all structure or say yes to every single thing that comes at you. Boundaries are real and necessary. But I am asking you to hold your plan a little looser today. To pause before you reflexively file something as an inconvenience. To ask, even briefly, is this in my way, or is this the way?

Because the meeting you were rushing to will probably happen fine without you being five minutes early. But the person standing in front of you needing a moment of your attention? That might be the thing that actually mattered today.

Hold the schedule loosely. Watch what He drops into it.

Much love and blessings,

Ramzi

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Family

Your kids interrupt at the worst times. That is basically their job. But some of those interruptions are the actual relationship happening. Put the phone down and look up more often than feels convenient.

Relationships

The friend who calls at an inconvenient moment often needed to talk more than they let on. Being available when it costs you something is what real friendship looks like.

Mental Health

A rigid schedule with zero flexibility creates constant low-level stress, because life is never going to cooperate. Holding your plans loosely is not just spiritual, it genuinely lowers the pressure.

Finances

Sometimes the interruption is a need you did not budget for. Generosity rarely arrives at a convenient time, and giving anyway is often exactly where God is working.

Physical Health

Your body interrupts you too, with fatigue, pain, and signals you would rather push past. Those are not obstacles to your productivity. They are information worth listening to.

Hold your plans loosely today. The interruption might be the assignment.

Lord, help me hold my plans with an open hand today. When something disrupts my schedule, give me the wisdom to pause and ask whether it is in my way or whether it is Your way. Soften my frustration and open my eyes to the people You put in front of me. Let me not be so locked into my agenda that I miss Yours. Amen.