Created for Communion:
Purposeful Friends
Sometimes interruptions are gifts we didn’t know we needed.
I’m notorious for planning out my day in my head and then getting frustrated when there’s a glitch in how I thought the day would progress. In the world, interruptions are delays that keep us from progressing toward where we thought we were going, but in faith, sometimes interruptions are exactly the redirections we need. Sometimes interruptions bring to light a much deeper purpose than the goal we were originally pursuing. But it all depends on how we respond to that interruption.
Jesus was fully man and fully God, but I sure do appreciate when we get to see His human side. This shows up when Jesus was passing through Samaria, weary and wanting to rest. Yet when He sat down at a well, He ended up having a life-changing conversation with a woman (I wish she was named!). This story is told in John 4:1–45, but basically Jesus asks the Samaritan woman for a drink. She is shocked because normally a Jewish man would never ask anything of a woman from Samaria, and He could have simply ignored her. But Jesus—fully human in his weariness but fully God in his perspective—launches into a teach- ing on living water, which raises several questions from the woman. The conversation takes a turn toward the woman’s scandalous lifestyle with multiple men. Despite the interruption in both their days, a moment of friendship leads the woman to believe in the Messiah. Jesus was tired and weary, but He still used the interruption to encourage her to worship the Father in spirit and truth.
The story continues in John 4:31–45. The disciples returned and marveled at the way Jesus had connected with this woman. The woman went and told others in Samaria what had happened. Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony: “He told me all that I ever did” (John 4:39). And the Samaritans wanted more of Jesus, so they asked him to stay, and he did for two days (John 4:40). More believed Jesus was indeed the Savior of the world.
I keep reminding myself: Jesus wasn’t even planning to stay in Samaria. He was thirsty, weary, and passing through. I think about all the interruptions in my daily journeys and want to be aware of the conversations I need to have, even if the interaction slows down my progress. Of course, God defines progress differently than I do.
Monica was living in Haiti as a missionary when her older friends, who were generous and youthful, were always giving them interesting gifts or showing up at seemingly inconvenient times. One night after dinner, Monica’s six-year-old daughter broke her arm and needed to go see a surgeon at a different hospital after going to the mission hospital for an X-ray. Monica was worried about her husband driving to a different area at night and was eager for details of what was happening during that time without smartphones. Right as Monica has gotten her younger son to bed, her older friend walked in with plans: “What movie are we going to watch? Can you get me a blanket? How about making some tea?” Admittedly, Monica was annoyed, but she served her friend. God later revealed to her how her friend had given her a gift that night with her presence and requests. “My mind was busy serving someone else so I wouldn’t worry about my husband and daughter,” Monica said. “She gave me the gift of serving her.”
Two of my kids began their friendships with God with interruptions.
As an eight-year-old, Cate was on a mission trip with us in Guatemala. All week we’d witnessed joy among the poverty, and that struck Cate. During our last day when we were enjoying some down time with our team on a volcanic ash beach, she interrupted a conversation some of us adults were having. I thought she wanted to complain about how there was sand in her bathing suit or something like that, but she wanted to tell me about how God had interrupted her life and was drawing her to Him.
Likewise, Ben interrupted our bedtime routine one Sunday night when he was twelve. He’d been to a youth event at church and was apparently still thinking about a message from an older friend when Greg and I were praying with him that night. The interruption led to his profession of not wanting to run from God anymore. He was baptized the next week.
When my kids interrupt me, or I run into a friend at the grocery store, or a phone call interrupts the time I’m using to conquer chores, I want to remember this woman at the well. I want to see the interruptions as gifts I didn’t know I needed. I want to remember Living Water matters more than a completed chore chart. I want to remember Jesus stayed because people needed Him, not because that was His plan. And I want to remember that it’s a necessary, beautiful part of life to sit down, drink some water, and share our faith even in our weariness.
Often these interruptions are where meaningful friendships begin.
Consider Communion
How do you typically respond when you are interrupted? Reflect on when an interruption has been life-altering for you. When has a passing conversation, an interruption to the flow of your day, or a surprise encounter been a gift you didn’t know you needed?
Cultivate Communion
The next time you’re interrupted, try to reframe the moment and seek the gift within the inconvenience. Sure, progress may take a different direction, but allow the interruption to lead to a purposeful conversation. Friendships can be built one moment at a time—sometimes when we least expect them.
*****
This is one chapter from Created for Communion: Discovering God’s Design for Biblical Friendship. There is another sample section available on my website as well as other freebies, like One Another verses and a playlist. Buy the whole book here.