I hate being interrupted.

Hate, hate, hate, hate it.

I struggle with anxiety issues, and one of the things that really helps me is having a pretty rigid, structured schedule. This enables me not only to stay on top of my “to-do” list but also “juggle the balls,” as I like to call it, of all the different roles and responsibilities I need to keep up with. In other words, schedules are how I stay sane.

So when something unexpected throws my schedule off, I don’t usually handle it well.

For example, the other day, I woke up with a vision of how my day was going to look: work out, shower, eat breakfast, get the kids off to school, come home, work until I reach my word count, lunch, cleaning and dinner prep, pick kids up from school, homework help, extracurriculars, dinner, walk the dogs, prep lunches for tomorrow…..and on and on and on.

At first, the day went off without a hitch. But, about 30 minutes into my writing time, I got a phone call: my daughter was sick. I needed to come pick her up right away.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I absolutely had compassion for my daughter; sicknesses are no fun, and I agreed totally that she needed to come home and rest.

But a part of me was also irritated. It’s shameful to admit, but true.

I would not be meeting my word count today (which would make tomorrow’s word count also difficult to obtain). I probably wouldn’t get any cleaning or dinner prep done either, putting me behind schedule for the day and the week. All the other activities on my to-do list would also have to be shifted or altered.

My schedule was completely thrown off.

I’d been interrupted.

And I didn’t like it.

Please tell me I’m not alone in this. Interruptions are seen as nuisances or irritants because they keep me (us) from doing what we want to be doing or else believe we should be doing. It takes our time and attention away from what we perceive as the most important thing.

But that’s not how Jesus saw interruptions. And He was interrupted ALL THE TIME.

Here’s just one example:

In Mark 5, we see Jesus on the lakeshore, teaching his disciples as well as a large crowd of followers. As He was doing so, one of the synagogue rules came to him, “fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, ‘My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live” (Mark 5: 22b-23).

Interruption #1.

And yet Jesus did not huff or roll His eyes, having been stopped in the middle of his teaching. Instead, “Jesus went with him” (verse 24).

As He’s walking along to Jarius’s house, the crowd began to follow Him, including a woman who been suffering from a bleeding disorder for 12 years. “When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak because she thought, ‘If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.'” (verse 27-28).

Interruption #2.

Here is Jesus, on His way to do some healing, only to be accosted by someone else, seeking the same thing. Yet again, rather than become irritated, Jesus has compassion, not only stopping the bleeding but also praising her, saying, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” (verse 34)

Just at that moment, as He’s preparing to carry on his way, Jesus is again stopped, this time by some men from Jarius’s house. They tell Jesus not to bother anymore. Jarius’s daughter has died.

Interruption #3.

Death, of course, is the ultimate interruption. But not even that could stop Jesus. Instead, He carried on to His destination, where He proclaimed the child not dead but asleep, and proceeded to raise her back to life.

The entire episode lasts just a little over 20 verses within the book of Mark. And we see Jesus interrupted three times. But never once do we see Him get annoyed. Never once do we see Him say, “I’m too busy.” And never once do we see Him ignore the needs of those around Him in favor of the things He wanted or felt He should be doing instead.

No, time and time again, we see Jesus stop what He was doing and help those around Him.

Because Jesus recognized, and we should too, that interruptions are often actually opportunities. Opportunities to help, to serve, and to love. They are tangible occasions for us to step outside of ourselves–our lives and our schedules–and awaken to kingdom work.

So the next time you–or I!–get interrupted, let’s strive to shift our perspective. Let’s choose to see those interruptions as gifts, chances to refocus and remember that there are things in life more important than our “to-do’s.”