Oh, how mysterious is God! But oh, how trustworthy is the Lord too.
On a recent day, a day of so-called holiday cheer, I was inundated with jobs, tasks, interactions, so-called pressing demands. It may have only been six or seven, but it was enough to take me away from my sole responsibility of caring for my son, with my wife at work.
There were three email conversations, WhatsApp messages, some Messenger interactions, a sermon to prepare and read, along with chores to do. The nature of interruptions is that it doesn’t take much, just a couple of awkwardly timed interactions or tasks, to derail well-intentioned plans.
Interruptions create busyness,
but God interrupts the busyness with creativity.
While I’m dealing with all these interruptions, stressing myself to boot, I’m vaguely aware that my five-year-old craves my attention. He seems so unreasonable in doing this. Like a five year old! Like a child who loves and deserves his Daddy. Like a child who wants to share with his father the wonder of playing with mud.
Then God speaks. ‘Keep your phone.’ ‘To go outside.’ ‘Now!’
‘Okay, Lord, if you say so… ‘It wasn’t for me to do it on my own, but God pushed me out of the house at the behest of my son…
‘Dad, come and build with me… make mud with me.’
In my mind are all these priorities, needs and desires to handle now as they come. Yeah, I’ve done every time management course that tells me not to do this, but…
…no buts…no buts.
So I walk, twenty percent against my will, but at least I walk.
When I get within ten meters of the side door, I see what he’s fixed.
You have an entire construction site set up with six ‘machines’ ready to do the hard work of hauling dirt and material for your building. All machines are lined up ready to go. Everything is ready, the planning and scheduling has been done, but there is a vital source of work that has been delayed: dad!
He proceeds to describe to me the older machine that he really likes, and also shows the newer and bigger machines. I quickly come to an understanding of my role in the ‘building’. I turn the water on and off, so the dirt can turn into a mixture we call ‘mud’. He arranges his machines so they can receive their payloads of dirt, and all the dirt ends up in the hopper (also known as a wheelbarrow).
And God is convincing in showing me His peace by allowing me to absorb myself into my son’s world.
God will interrupt our busyness if we are listening. Truly, if we are attentive to our frustrations, we will see that God is reminding us not only through his still small voice, but that the Holy Spirit is bellowing through the growing anger of our disobedience.
The moments of obedience, when we spend time with our children and families, are often fleeting in this life, but they are moments that we will never regret. However, managing the tasks and demands of life, even if they seem essential, will make us regret our lost opportunities with our relatives.