Divinely Appointed Interruptions

It was a crisp, beautiful Fall day in the small Himalayan foothill village.  The sky was clear and blue, dotted with a few cotton-candy looking clouds.  Birds of prey soared through the air gliding between the mountain peaks. In the distance the sound of monkeys playing in the trees could be heard. I had my nice hot cup of tea in one hand and my Bible in the other.  Snuggling into the side of my sofa, I was ready to spend some precious quiet moments with Jesus in the midst of His stunning and lively creation in view just outside my window.  Just as I opened my Bible, “KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!”

This scenario happened more than once in the 5 years I spent in that village in the foothills of the Himalayas.  The local culture was both an early morning culture and a “drop by” kind of culture.  I can still vaguely remember when I was growing up in the United States when people would still just “drop by” your house, but those days seem to have gone in our Western culture.  Now it would be considered rude to not call before “dropping by” someone’s house. But in that small mountain community, it was still the norm to just stop in whenever near by a friend’s home.

If anyone had asked me before moving to the Himalayas, I would have said that I was a very generous person.  I love to give gifts, money, hugs, etc.  However, I quickly discovered an area of giving where I was NOT very generous at all, my time!  It was an area that the Lord continually used the surrounding culture to stretch me and mold me further into His image of wondrous graciousness and generosity with others.  To be perfectly honest, at first, I would be absolutely annoyed at these disturbances.  I would find it hard to engage with the person at my door with grace or generosity at all.  I just wanted to get back to my carefully curated schedule!  Over time, however, I began to see that many times these disturbances were, in fact, divinely appointed interruptions.

This is also one of our core values in All Nations, to treat each other graciously and generously.  Before my season mentioned above, I rarely correlated being gracious and generous with how I responded to interruptions in my carefully scheduled calendar. I wish I could say that I always perfectly respond now to every interruption in my day, but alas that would not be true.  However, I find that more and more I am learning to be a bit more gracious and a tad more generous than before with the precious time that God has given.

In today’s world with an ongoing pandemic and people being abundantly cautious perhaps your divinely appointed interruptions are not going to be someone knocking on your door.  Perhaps it looks like a Facebook messenger text from an old friend, or a WhatsApp message from someone asking for prayer. Or perhaps it’s the call of a child just as you were about sit down and relax for the first time all day.  Or how about the stranger who seeks interaction with you while you are shopping or out and about? How could you respond with grace and generosity to these interruptions?

Reflective Questions…

What about you? How do you respond when someone interrupts what you have scheduled to do that day? What kind of emotions do you experience?

Can you remember a time that you might label a “divinely appointed interruption’?

Scripture Meditation…

Hebrews 13:1-2 Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

About the author:
Jessica “Mama J” McFalls has served in full-time ministry since 2004.  She has served with several ministries in multiple countries in Africa, South Asia and East Asia.  She has been with All Nations since 2011 when she did her CPx training at the Cape Town hub in South Africa.  With All Nations she has served in Cape Town, the Himalayas of NW India, and is currently in Taiwan.  She has served on hub staff, as a field team leader, and currently serves as a CP/member care coach and a trainer for CPx both with cross-cultural catalytic workers and local indigenous workers.  She holds an M.A. in Christian Formation and Discipleship and is an ordained minister.  The thing that makes her smile more than anything else is seeing people come to Christ and grow in their relationship with Him.  It’s those little “aha” moments along the way in their discipleship that makes everything worth it!!!

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