I almost missed it.

I was rushing. I was rushing home to tackle another item on my seemingly never ending to-do-list. I was rushing . . . and that’s when I saw him. An older gentleman was mulching leaves in his front yard. As I drove past, I noticed that his mower appeared to be stuck on a steep slope next to the road.  His back tires spun futilely in the soft earth beneath him. I felt my breath catch for a moment and clearly heard God say, “Stop.” But, I didn’t. I continued down the road telling myself that the gentleman would eventually get himself unstuck or someone else, with the time, would stop to help him. I turned onto my road and was almost to my driveway when I felt a tug on my heart. Again, I heard Him speak. “Go back.” With a sigh of complete frustration, I turned my car around and heading back down the road. I prayed that somehow he had miraculously freed himself or someone else had been gracious enough to stop.  Yet, as I neared his house, I saw that he had not moved. And now, there was a look a pure desperation on his face. I pulled my car over to the side of the road and climbed out. As I walked over to him, I quickly noticed that the back tires of his mower were almost completely submerged in the mud. I also realized that he was physically unable to get himself off of the machine and was desperately clinging to the steering wheel. I carefully leaned my body into the mower to keep it upright and offered my hand to steady the man as he painfully and slowly climbed down. Once he was safely on level ground, I was able to push the mower off of the slope. As I climbed back into my car, I started thinking.

What if I hadn’t stopped? What if I hadn’t listened? What might have happened?

Sometimes God chooses to interrupt us. Sometimes God chooses to interrupt our plans. God interrupts because He sees the bigger picture. God interrupts because He has a specific purpose for me . . . and He has one for you. God interrupts because His plans for us are far bigger than the ones we have for ourselves.

Yet, how do we often respond? How do we respond when God interrupts our lives: when He takes us from the path we had set before ourselves?  We throw fits. We complain. We whine about how inconvenient it all is.

But, you know what I’m learning? There is a world out there that is desperate to see Him. There is a world out there that is desperate for His love. And those times that He interrupts my plans . . . it’s because there is someone that needs Him. God calls us to be open to His interruptions and more importantly to be . . . obedient. To be obedient when He takes us down a path that is uncomfortable, a path that is inconvenient, and a path that is sometimes hard. He asks that we trust Him and obey when He chooses to interrupt our lives.

Today, ask Him to open your eyes. Ask Him to help you see the world as He does: a world full of broken people that desperately need to see Him. Be obedient and step back and watch Him move.