Stopped on the Way

I can walk into my garden with one plan and soon find myself doing something else. A leaning plant needs support. The soil is drier than I expected. Something has been eating leaves that looked healthy yesterday. Before long, I am standing there thinking, This is not what I came out here to do. Some interruptions are inconvenient. Others reveal what I might have missed.

Saul was traveling to Damascus with a plan of his own. He had permission to arrest the followers of Jesus and bring them back to Jerusalem. Saul was certain of his direction and convinced that what he was doing was right. One moment he was moving confidently toward Damascus. The next, he was on the ground, surrounded by light and listening to a voice that called him by name: “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?”

I had to sit with that part of Saul’s story. He was sincere and passionate. He believed he was defending God. Yet sincerity had not protected him from moving in the wrong direction. That made me wonder how often I ask God to bless my plans without first asking whether they are leading me where He wants me to go.

Saul’s interruption was not meant to destroy him. It was meant to transform him. After Saul asked, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” Jesus told him to arise and go into the city. Saul did not receive the entire plan while lying on the road. He received only the next step.

I have lived long enough to know that life does not always follow the route I carefully planned. Some doors have closed before I was ready. Some circumstances have slowed me down when I wanted to keep moving. I wish I could say that I always respond with patience, but sometimes my first response is frustration. I want an explanation when God may only be offering me the next step.

Looking back, I can see that some unexpected interruptions caused me to pray differently, listen more carefully and notice what I might otherwise have missed. I did not understand what God was doing at the time. Sometimes all I had was enough light for the step in front of me.

Not every delay is a message from God, and every inconvenience does not require a spiritual explanation. But an interruption can offer us a moment to pause and ask, Lord, is there something You want me to notice? Is there a direction, attitude or assumption I need to reconsider?

Maybe you are standing in an interruption right now. Something has changed or failed to unfold as expected. You may not yet understand why. Perhaps, for today, you do not need the entire explanation. You may only need enough light to take the next step.

Saul began that day holding authority in his hands. He ended it being led by the hand. Yet the road he had planned to use for persecution became the place where Jesus began changing his direction. The interruption before you may not be the end of your journey. It may be the place where God begins to show you another way.

Pearl's Prayer:

Lord, when my plans are interrupted, help me not to become so frustrated that I miss Your presence. Give me the humility to listen, the courage to change direction and the faith to take the next step, even when I cannot see the entire road. In Jesus' name, Amen.

I am The Vessel, God is The Grace