Interrupted

Why are we often SO surprised by how the Lord guides us? Or in my case, tries to guide me?

The Lord knows I am not a structured person. I’m energized by flitting from one task to another like a bee searching for nectar, no schedule and no timeframes. I like spur of the moment plans, and responding to whatever is in front of me (squirrel!). To some people it seems like I am quite air-headed. And, well, sometimes I’m that, too. But usually it’s just my mind going in a million directions at once and me trying to keep up with it.

Lately I’ve struggled to find time to write. I had an idea that maybe if I had one whole day a week to write and work on my speaking topics, uninterrupted, I’d get more done. So I asked my boss if I could work four 10-hour days instead of five 8-hour days a week. I’d structure 4 days for work focus, and 1 day for writing.

My boss said no, not now, too much going on and I need you at work every day.

So Lord, now what?

As I sat in my prayer closet this morning reading my devotionals, My Utmost for His Highest sparked an idea for a blog. I responded how I usually respond when these thoughts interrupt me as I’m trying to spend time with the Lord.

“No, not now Mary, it’s prayer closet time with the Lord, then you have to get ready for work.”

A very short time later, I tried to retrieve the blog idea from my brain to  write some notes, but it was gone.

“Lord, why can’t I seem to find time to write?”

“Because you’re trying to structure yourself with man-made plans instead of responding to My voice.”

As I write this I am laughing out loud. Yes, LOL…OLOLOL. I contradicted myself and didn’t see it until I wrote it on paper.

Me, an unstructured, spontaneous, multi-task-energized person, needed a whole structured day, uninterrupted, in order to be a productive writer.

Knowing well how He created me, the Lord interrupted me to get up in the middle of my quiet time to write a blog. Yes, go write it now, it’s OK. The Lord was giving me time and space and ideas that fit into my schedule and I completely missed it.

And the Lord, knowing well how He created me, shut the door to my structured all-day plan.

So here I sit, 6:30AM on a Thursday, writing a blog before heading off to work….energized, excited, and still laughing.

I sense such sweet and heartfelt intimacy with my Father in this moment. He is SO faithful! These words from Psalm 139 have a whole new meaning for me today.

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God – you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration – what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.  (Psalm 139:13-16, MSG, emphasis mine)

Where are you holding yourself back from following God in the way He guides YOU?

Armed with new perspective, I can’t wait to see what the Lord brings my way today. I pray He interrupts your plans with lots of new adventures!

Mary Graziano Scro, a graduate of Christian Communicators Conference, is an inspirational author, speaker, and blogger who intuitively weaves analogies and personal testimony with practical biblical teaching. Whether “live” or at the keyboard, Mary loves sharing what God has done in her life to encourage others about the awesome life God has planned for us, IF we are willing to choose wisely in our everyday lives (John 8:31-32). And it’s not only about us – the more we invest in our own unique relationship with Jesus, the more visible He is to a world that desperately needs Him.

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Blog: Life Is Not A Formula