Yesterday, I had one of those days that did not go according to “my” plans.  It did make for a good story later, but at the moment I found myself quite frustrated and irritated that I had to drop everything for someone else and that I didn’t get to eat lunch until mid-afternoon.  I had to do something on the computer that I really didn’t know how to do.  I had someone on the phone walking me through it, but the phone cord was too short to reach to the computer so I had to keep dropping the receiver, go work on the computer, and then back to pick up the phone. (I hope you’re laughing at this point–but let me assure you, I wasn’t.) I did have the brilliant idea at one point to switch a cord and handset from another phone–but when I went to hang it up so that I could call the person back later, the handset did not fit the cradle!  Then the online account that was needed to pay for the services I was trying to secure ran out of money.  That would have been easy if the account had been in my name, but it wasn’t.  Something else to figure out.  And so on and so on. (And there was a “so on and so on”, let me tell you.) Like I said, it made for a good story later–but not at the time.  It was humbling to see my weakness and selfishness cry out so strongly at such a simple interruption.

I pray that you respond more quickly to the grace of God than I did yesterday.  Let us pray for each other–that at least we will have the humility to cry out to God in our weakness . . . and hopefully have a  good story to tell when it is all over.  I love this prayer from Amy Carmichael:

A day or two ago one who was with me prayed like this, “Lord, help me to welcome interruptions, especially when the interruption seems less important than the work I am trying to do.”  That prayer has often been mine.  I expect many of you have felt the need of the loving grace of the Lord to help you to welcome interruptions, especially when they do not seem to matter nearly so much as what we are doing at the moment.  Thinking of this, I found myself this early morning in Lk. 9.11.  The people followed our Lord Jesus (He had wanted to be alone with His disciples just then), and He welcomed them.