Something that was likely true for you as a kid as well as your own kids is that kids tend to be somewhat possessive of their toys…even when they’re not all that interested in them. It’s ironic that most of the squabbles my kids have over their toys is not when they’re playing with them, but when someone else is playing with them. Unfortunately, that possessiveness continues on into teenage years and even adulthood. However, I have found that this changed somewhat when I got married. I soon realized that what was mine was Denise’s and vice versa. And when we had kids, I realized that nothing was mine anymore.

And while that may be true with stuff, it is even more true for us over things like our calendar, our work, even ourmoney. It is easy for us to think of my calendar, my work, or my money as if they belonged to us. 

One of the areas that I constantly need help with is that transition from work to home. When I make that transition, all I want to do is to be with my family. I don’t want to get into a conversation with my neighbor, or I don’t want to have to talk on the phone with anyone. I have put in my hours in at work and I deserve to do whatever I please. That’s a terrible thing to admit, but it’s true. When it comes right down to it, I get just plain selfish with my time. Why? Because I believe that my time or my calendar or my money is mine to do with as I please. I am the one who gets to decide what I’m going to do and who I’m going to do it with.

How do you think God feels about that mindset? Yeah, I don’t think He’s a big fan of that. In fact, His word is crystal clear. Over and over again, especially in the New Testament, God declares that we, you and me, belong to him. Paul tells Christians in 1 Corinthians 6 that our bodies belong to the Lord because He has bought us with a price. In 1 Corinthians 12, he tells us that we belong to the church when he talks about the different parts of the body of Christ. There is nothing in our life that belongs to us. It all belongs to him.

Show of hands…how many of you like to be interrupted, especially if you’re doing something that requires quiet or concentration. Since I can’t see you, I’m going to assume that you don’t. In fact, no one likes interruptions. We don’t like them because we’re no longer in control of our time or our calendar. Someone has made a claim on our time.

It reminds me of the parable of the Good Samaritan. And while the point of the parable is to answer the question, “Who is my neighbor?” it is also instructive for thinking about who who owns my time.  Both priests that passed by saw helping this half-dead fellow as an interruption to their schedule. There were services to hold, sacrifice to make, festivals to plan. Additionally, if the man were dead, handling his body would have caused them to become unclean. They would have been unable to perform their jobs. 

For the Samaritan to be a good neighbor, he had to interrupt his schedule. In Luke 10:33, we read, “But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.” It’s not like the Samaritan was roadside assistance looking to help folks in trouble. He was on his way, just like the priests. But he was willing to be interrupted to answer God’s call to serve and help.

I need to see that the interruptions to my plans and lives are actually God’s plan for my life.  The interruptions we experience are not detours around God’s plan for our life. They’re actually bridges connecting us to His plans. While these interruptions catch us by surprise, they don’t catch God by surprise.  In fact, he is behind them. He has ordained them to come to pass that we might know more of Him.

So as you think about your time, your house, your work and your money, remember who they belong to. Second, when God brings an interruption into your life, don’t despise it. See how the Lord may have brought it into your life not because they need you, but because you need them.