‘When Jesus heard him, he stopped.’
Luke 18:40 NLT
We live such busy lives that it can be difficult to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. Jesus had the biggest mission in all of history, but still held His schedule loosely enough that He graciously accepted interruptions to reach out to others and show God’s love. Chuck Swindoll writes: ‘The One who said, “Be still, and know that I am God” must hurt when He witnesses our frantic, compulsive, agitated motions. In place of a quiet, responsive spirit, we offer Him an inner washing machine – churning with anxiety…activity…resentment and impatience. But you can change. Here’s how. Admit it. Acknowledge that you’re too busy and something must be done… Stop it. Starting today, refuse every activity that isn’t absolutely necessary. Sound ruthless? So is the clock. So is your health… Quit feeling so important. They’ll find somebody else to sit on the committee…or they’ll wise up and adopt a better plan. Maintain it. It is easy to start fast and fade quickly. Paul told the Galatians, “You were running…well. Who…held you back from following the truth? It certainly isn’t God…he is the one who called you to freedom” (Galatians 5:7-8 NLT). Share it. Once you start gleaning the benefits from reordering your priorities…tell other “activity-addicts.” They’d love to stop – if they only knew how.’ For a lot of us, that honest acknowledgement that we can allow busyness to affect our openness to God can be hard. Especially when it’s often good things that fill our schedules. But it’s vital to remember that building our relationship with God comes before anything else, even ahead of our work for Him out in the world. Use this as a chance to check your priorities. Put Jesus before good works. Allow the Holy Spirit to fill you up before you try to pour out. What Now? Use any spare time you have today to sit quietly and talk to God for more than 10 minutes. If you have to, cancel something unnecessary to make that space.