WEEK TWO: TRUST ME, I GOT THIS

Every person who has ever lived has had one of those days when nothing goes as you planned. It seems no matter how much you work at it or how hard you try, something keeps getting in the way of accomplishing what you wanted or planned to do. Just recently, I had one of those days. I had several tasks I wanted to accomplish, but distractions came… and then a part that I needed to finish a task broke. That meant I had to stop what I was doing and go get another part to replace it. As the day wore on, I was getting more impatient and frustrated because I felt like I was not getting anything done. In reality I was getting things done; it was just happening much more slowly than I would have liked. So why the frustration and impatience? Because interruptions are inconvenient. They encroach on our timeline. They mess up our plans. But what if that disruptive annoyance in our lives is actually a divine appointment with God?

Jairus was on a mission. His daughter was dying, and he needed to get to Jesus and have him come and heal her. He believed that it could happen, and he was doing his part to see that it did. Jesus agreed to come with him, but on the way, he stopped because someone touched him. A woman—an unclean woman—had touched him and Jesus took the time to stop and address what had just happened. This woman had disrupted Jairus’s urgent plan. She was slowing Jesus down, and it was immediately after this happened that Jairus received the news that his daughter had already died. I can only imagine how he must have felt. He was an important leader in the synagogue. This woman had hindered Jesus from getting to his house to heal his daughter. This obstacle, a woman who wasn’t even allowed to do what she did according to the law, kept Jesus from bringing the miracle that Jairus needed right now.

How often do we get annoyed when what we want gets sidetracked or pushed aside by something that we hadn’t planned for? But what if what we see as a disruptive annoyance is really just an opportunity for a divine appointment?  When Jesus addressed that woman, she told him what she had done and he replied, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.” It is at that moment that Jairus receives the news about his daughter. Upon overhearing what the messenger told Jairus, Jesus responds by saying, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith!” In the middle of the disruption, watching this woman be healed and hearing Jesus use the same word—faith—for both situations is exactly what Jairus was going to need to hear to see his miracle come to pass. What would have happened if he had just turned and walked away? What if he had become angry or indignant in that moment and allowed his fear of losing his daughter to overwhelm his faith?

Too often, I believe we see the disruption of our plan as an obstacle. But maybe God wants us to see it as an opportunity for us to encounter him in a new way—a needed way—at that moment. What miracle or answer that we want from God do we potentially miss because we are annoyed rather than open?

Both Jairus and the woman received their miracle, despite the interruptions. The next time your idea or your plan gets interrupted, maybe the best thing you can do is stop and ask God, “What is it you are trying to show me right now? God, what do you need me to know or hear?” Maybe the miracle you need is right on the other side of that interruption.