Seriously, I shudder to think where I'd be now without Jesus interrupting my life.

Oh wow.

Um I'd be rich and successful, hopeless and helpless, sitting in the shadow of death, heading for hell.

And what a what a horror beyond words to be rich, hopeless and helpless before death.

Oh man.

Or plans.

You know, it's been said if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans for the day.

That's one of my favorite sayings, man.

This is what I got going on today, Lord.

No, here it is.

Bless it.

Right?

But no, think about it.

The most loving thing that God can do is interrupt your day and even in your eyes, perhaps even sour your day, right?

Jonah?

Did he plan on going into uh the belly of a big fish?

Think of the disciples.

Was the cross part of their ultimate goal that was inside their mind?

Mary didn't wake up saying, Hey, you know what?

I'm going to uh have uh the Messiah, you know, come inside of my womb today.

You know, God's interruptions are the most loving thing that God can do inside of our life.

Even Jesus in Matthew 14, right?

Like he's he's tired, he goes on a boat to get away from the crowds.

He's expecting to have like a day to himself.

He gets to the other side and there's a crowd of people.

And I love the response you preach on this often.

I love the response from Jesus.

He wasn't like, oh, come on, I wanted this time, or he didn't turn the boat around to look for another shore.

He responded with compassion.

Yeah.

Because in his heart he knew this is what the Lord, my father, has for me.

Amen.

I think it's one of the greatest ways to honor God is to honor that detour.

I mean, do you do you really trust the Lord?

Do you really have faith in God?

How do you handle that trial inside your life, right?

Because we've often said that there, there's no issues in our lives, they're just stepping stones to get us to where we need to be.

And we think, well, no, the straightest, the quickest way between two places is a straight line.

And God says, step, step, step, step back over here, step over here, step over there.

And it makes no sense.

But then how do you handle that detour?

And you're able to see how how great somebody's faith is, how and how they handle those detours that look like discouragement.

It's relevant you mentioned the word faith.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding.

Yeah.

Because their understanding says A to B and God says A to Z to B, to A.

To D.

Yeah.

Yeah back to KK.

But I I think the ultimate disruption is our salvation.

I just can't get past this.

Yeah.

Um, there's a time when I wasn't seeking God, even slightly.

And the Book of Romans says there's none that seek after God, but God sought after me.

He thundered his voice and separated me from this world with his lightning.

And uh I am forever grateful beyond words.

And this is where Christian maturity comes in, right?

Because what what do we want to say?

That knee-jerk reaction is gonna get tested.

Why me?

We're all gonna get tested.

Why now?

Haven't I faithfully served you?

Yeah, right?

What what did I do to get this?

And and oftentimes, you know, God's not He's not punishing you, He's positioning you, right?

That God's putting you in a place where now you can be pliable and movable, right?

Because He is the potter, we're the clay, and He is getting the kinks out.

He's getting out those air bubbles.

So often we treat our relationship with God as a contract and not a covenant.

You see, a contract is an if-then.

I will do this and you will provide in this kind of way, right?

That's contractual agreement.

I will show up to church, I will read my Bible every morning, I will pray, I will, et cetera, et cetera, and you will bless my marriage, you will give me easy kids, you will give me a career that I like.

And so often, in our heart of hearts, when the Christian looks over at their neighbor, their non-believing neighbor, and they see that they're they're driving a nicer car than you, that they seem to be going on the vacations you wish you were going on, that their marriage seems on the surface easier than theirs, that your their kids are more athletic than your kids, whatever the case.

And you think to yourselves, in your heart, you're like, why not me, God?

Aren't I doing the right things?

That's contract, not covenant.

A covenant is a mutual affection, and God has made a covenant with you.

He has poured out his love and he has poured out his grace towards you in forgiveness and on the cross.

And the response to us is to have a covenantal devotion back to him, not a contract, a covenant.

Good.

Yeah, I mean, look, in Providence, there is really no such thing ultimately as an interruption.

Like this is God's plan.

So it's an interruption to us because we have our plans, we have our agendas, we, and you think about it, right?

As I've said trillions of times, expectations are the foundation for disappointment or delight.

If my expectation is, oh, I'm gonna go this, James, right?

I'm gonna go here, there, do this and that, make a profit.

You don't know what your life holds.

You don't know if you have tomorrow.

You don't, so it's it's that mindset of God is sovereign in control, knows what he's doing, I'm his, and he's for me.

So, like you're saying, Oscar, for us as believers, there there's no, there's no punishment.

There, there's only there's only discipline if it's needed, but even that's for our good.

So, like even when we sin, God takes it, uses it for the good, and sanctifies us.

So, so how do we turn that that interruption and look at it as an invitation, right?

An invitation to go deeper, an invitation to trust more, right?

To to surrender our script, you know, for the day.

How how do we go from that interruption to that invitation?

I think it's to remember TGW principle.

Things get worse.

Often you'll pray for something and God doesn't show up and do exactly what you want him to do.

Like Lazarus.

Lazarus is sick, Jesus come.

Obviously, he's going to come, but he didn't.

He stayed until Lazarus died.

Moses at the Red Sea.

God, do something, stop the enemy.

He doesn't stop the enemy, he opens the Red Sea.

So there's so many principles in scripture where things get worse when you pray, and God doesn't seem to be moving, but like you're saying, he's working behind the scenes.

Yeah.

Here's another really good, a couple good sayings I came across.

What feels like a setback is often a setup for God's glory.

The delay of our plans often means the advancement of his.

And if if I'm if I'm in a place where I'm you know, I'm realizing, look, this is for something greater than me.

Persevere with greater joy in the midst of it.

I'm called to persevere either way, but it's that knowledge, it's that understanding.

Like if this is if this is for God's glory, if this is for something greater, then I'll endure it.

You know, I mean, look, there are times when I I've engaged in certain ministry activities that have been very tough and grueling and and difficult and hard and painful.

But at the end of the day, as I see people getting blessed, I mean, look, you guys understand like the warfare of ministries intense.

Ray, Ray went through what he went through for years, that gyerophobia thing, you know.

I went through that dark night of the soul I've talked about for months.

But but on a regular basis, we go through a warfare that a lot of people just don't experience.

There is intense spiritual warfare.

And there's times where it's that feeling of like, man, it would it would be better to do anything else in ministry.

Not to give a picture like it's always a misery, of course not.

There's joys, but there are times when the intensity, it's it's like um it's uh concentrated to where it's it's intense, heavy, and you're like, how am I gonna get through this?

You know?

Uh but when you see God touching lives, and it's like, Lord, whatever you need to do with me, it's for a greater purpose.

Virgin, God is too good to be unkind, and he's too wise to be mistaken.

When you cannot trace his hand, you can trust his heart.

Good.

Too good to be unkind, too wise to be mistaken.

So it's trusting him, it's relying on him.

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