Are You Willing to be Interrupted?

Full of your joy, full of rest, that supernatural rest that only comes from Christ.

And we thank you for this, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen.

We'll open your Bibles to Psalms 118, verse 24.

Psalms 118:24

This has been one of our foundational verses this year.

It says, this is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Throughout the months, we've been learning that God wants us to enjoy the journey.

He wants us to value each and every day of our life.

To get up every day and to trust Him completely with what He has for us.

The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

But Jesus has came to give us life.

To give us an abundant life. An overflowing life. That is a gift to us that we should be enjoying.

So when we get up in the morning and we say, this is the day that the Lord has

made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.

And we've been learning throughout this time of enjoying the journey.

And today I want to talk with you about something that the Lord has put on my heart a few weeks ago.

And I want to go back to a message that Pastor had started probably a month ago.

And I want to pick up there today. and we're going to go a little bit further with it.

So turn to Mark 4, chapter 4, and you're going to meet me in verse 13 all the

way to verse 20. And as I read...

The guys in the back, they can leave the verses up as we go through.

I may stop there once in a while.

It says, then Jesus said to them, if you can't understand the meaning of this

parable, how will you understand the other parables?

When I read something like that, it kind of is like a red light or a red flag

that goes up. Like, I need to pay attention to this.

If Jesus said, if you don't understand this parable, you're not going to understand

anything else, then I know that I need to focus.

I need to lock in. I need to pay attention to what he's about to tell me.

It says in verse 14, it says, The farmer plants seed by taking God's word to others.

You could say instead of farmer, it could be a preacher, it could be a pastor,

it could be you because you are taking the word to someone else,

And that word is our seed.

And it says in verse 15, the seed that fell on the footpath represents those

who hear the message only to have Satan come at once and take it away.

As you're listening to this, don't think of someone else. Think of yourself.

The ground, the soil is our heart. Our heart.

Verse 16, the seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and

immediately receive it with joy.

But since they don't have deep roots, they don't last long.

They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God's word.

And the seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God's word,

But all too quickly, the message is crowded out by the worries of this life,

the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, distractions.

So no fruit is produced. And the seed that fell on good soil represents those

who hear and accept God's word and produces a harvest of 30,

60, or even 100 times as much as has been planted.

The title of my message today is, Are You Willing to be Interrupted?

Are you willing to allow God to interrupt your distractions?

Are you willing to allow God to interrupt your expectations?

We all have expectations in life.

As singles we have expectations

of what a marriage should be like as a married couple we have expectations of

how our marriage should be before you have children you have expectations of

how your children should act and once you are parents your expectations sometimes change,

So are you willing to be interrupted?

This, the Lord spoke to me about this months ago, and I was just like,

am I willing to be interrupted? I don't like to be interrupted, if I'm honest with you.

I don't like being interrupted, and I'm interrupted a lot.

Our house, sometimes, sometimes I ask pastor, are you sure that you want me to lead Zoom prayer?

Because as soon as I turn that camera on, I can hear the stuff going on in my

house between our animals and children.

And it's so funny that the Lord would give me a message. Are you willing to be interrupted?

I want to take you through the Bible of several different people in the Bible

that their expectations was interrupted.

And I'm going somewhere with this, so pay attention. In Luke 10, let's take a look there.

In Luke 10, you know this story. This is the story of Martha.

She gets a bad rap, but man, I love Martha.

If you take a look in verse 38, it says, As Jesus and his disciples continued

on their way to Jerusalem,

they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into

her home. I want to focus on that.

Martha did a good thing. she welcomed

Jesus into her home she wanted

Jesus there she had a heart to serve him and she welcomed Jesus it says in 39

her sister Mary sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he talked but Martha

was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing.

Martha had a heart to serve, and she was distracted by serving.

Martha wasn't distracted by something bad. She wasn't distracted by something sinful.

She welcomed Jesus into her home, and she got busy serving. All the details.

She wanted to bless Jesus and his disciples. That's a good thing.

But Jesus says here that she was distracted from the main thing.

It says that as she was preparing the dinner, she came to Jesus and said,

Lord, doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work?

Tell her to come and help me.

So here, Martha has an expectation.

Okay, Mary, Jesus and his disciples are coming to town.

We are going to welcome them into our home, and we are going to host this wonderful

dinner, and we're going to serve them, and it's going to be a good thing. That's my expectation.

But Jesus looks at Martha and said to her,

my dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all of these details,

but there is only one thing worth being concerned about, and Mary has discovered

it, and it will not be taken away from her.

What Martha was doing in this passage was not bad. It was not sinful.

She had an expectation, but she needed to allow God to interrupt that expectation

because in that moment the main thing and we talked with the youth about this

last week the main thing was keeping their focus on Jesus right?

And keep the main thing the main thing. And Martha was distracted.

She was distracted serving and doing all the other things that she couldn't

focus on what Jesus came to say to her.

The Messiah, the Son of God. And here Mary is seated at his feet, just receiving.

But Martha needed her expectation to be interrupted that day.

She needed to be stretched.

She needed to have her gaze refocused.

It's great if you want to serve and you want to invite me into your home.

I'm thinking that's what Jesus was thinking and saying to her.

But the main thing right now is my presence, to spend time in his presence.

And just like I said, some of us, we have expectations, and we need to be stretched

sometimes, and we need to be refocused.

And I'm going to share something that I don't believe it's here at True Life

because I have seen with my eyes, I see your heart.

Every one of you are flexible people.

But there are people that have expectations even about church.

They have an expectation of,

I'm going to go to church because I want the pastor to encourage me today.

I need that pastor to uplift me today.

I need this encouragement. And then when they get to church that day,

the Holy Spirit has another plan.

And it's a word of correction.

They needed to be interrupted that day. A word of correction is not bad.

It can save your life. But when we are so rigid in our thought patterns,

I'm coming to church so I can get something.

And I encourage you, you come expecting.

But you know what? You come expecting while also expecting that God may tell

you to bless someone else.

It is an opportunity to get ourself off of our own mind and our thoughts on Christ.

Set your thoughts on things above.

I may go further in this that there are people that have an expectation when

they come to church or they'll say, I'm looking for a new church.

I want to go to a church that does not talk about money.

And I came across that this week, actually. Someone said, well,

I want to go to church where they never talk about money. I don't want to talk about money.

And I don't want to negate that many people have been hurt in the church.

I'm not going to stand up here and act like there has not been sinful things

that has happened in a church building.

There have been people that have manipulated or didn't have God's interest at heart. Thank you.

I'm not going to say that doesn't happen. But there's a mentality that takes

place when you're in that situation that you don't have to stay in that mentality.

A mentality that someone's out to get me, someone's out to hurt me,

someone's out to steal from me, turns into a stronghold, and then Satan has you in a chokehold.

So then when anybody gets up and says, We've got a family in need and we're going to bless them.

We know that Jehovah Jireh is going to show up and they're going to meet their

needs. And immediately you kind of have that chokehold of why are they talking about money?

That's not on the pastor. That's not on the church. And that's not on God.

That is a mentality and a stronghold that Satan has planted into you.

That's an expectation that needs to be interrupted.

Let's take a look again let's go to Matthew,

and I encourage you if there is a time where

I begin to get uncomfortable maybe something happens or someone says something

and I'm uncomfortable I always stop and ask myself why am I uncomfortable why

am I uncomfortable is it because the Holy Spirit is quickening me that,

the intentions of that person's not good or is

it because I have a stronghold in my life in Matthew

Matthew 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14 starting in verse 28 here is the story of Peter it says then let's

go to 28 so then it says then Peter called to him Lord if it's really you tell

me to come to you walking on the water.

Yes, come, Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat,

and he walked on the water towards Jesus.

But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink.

Save me, Lord, he shouted.

Here, Peter was walking in bold faith.

You know, we talk about Peter sinking, but we need to focus on the fact that

Peter took a word from God and he got up out of that boat.

He stepped out of that boat and he began to walk on water and he was walking towards Jesus.

But what happened was he looked and he seen the wind.

He seen the waves. He seen distractions. And a distraction is just an attempt

to divert your gaze to something else.

A distraction will divert your gaze off of the main thing. That's what happened with Martha.

Martha's gaze was not on Jesus that day. It was what she could do.

Works of the flesh. What can I do to make this dinner perfect?

What can I do to make this gathering perfect?

Her gaze was diverted off of Jesus onto all the details of the meal.

Here, Peter, he's walking on water super naturally towards Jesus,

and his gaze was diverted to what could happen.

How is this happening right now? The hows and the whats when Jesus didn't ask

us to figure out the hows and the whats.

He was distracted. If we pick up in verse 31, it says that Jesus immediately

reached out and grabbed him.

You have so little faith, Jesus said.

Why do you doubt me?

Growing up, we heard this story in Sunday school. I grew up with this story.

And even as a teenager into my 20s, even into my 30s, I would always think about that question.

Why do you doubt me? And I would say to myself, because we've all walked in doubt.

There's nobody in this room or watching online that can say they haven't dealt with doubt.

And when he asked, why do you doubt me? I would always try to reason an answer to that question.

Well, I don't know, God. Why do I doubt you? I don't want to doubt you. Why do I doubt you?

Is it fear, worry, anxiety?

Is it the pain in my body right now? Is it my bank account that's getting real low? Why do I doubt you?

And it came to me this year as I turned 41.

And don't look at me like it don't take you guys a long time to get some things.

It took me that long when he said, why do you doubt me?

I heard it one night in my spirit because I was looking at something else.

I was looking somewhere else.

I could try to chalk it up and say fear, anxiety, worry, pain,

sickness, this person that I'm in a relationship with. It could be all of these things.

But the reason that I am doubting you is because I'm looking somewhere else.

My gaze has been diverted to something different.

So when Jesus asked Peter, you have so little faith, why do you doubt me?

It's because he was looking somewhere else.

His eyes were off of Jesus. He was looking at his circumstances.

And his circumstances in the natural said, you're about to drown. You can't walk on water.

And as soon as he diverted his gaze to the natural, he did begin to sink.

I want to share a personal story with you, and I say this story because I really

wanted to minister to you. I wanted to encourage you.

It was probably around four and a half years ago, I was sitting,

not in this building, but sitting right here at True Life, and Pastor was sharing

a message, and he was sharing a message on renewed hope, and the Lord had began

to deal with me about opening up the business that I run right now.

And in that moment, I had expectations in my life, and the expectation was not

to run a business, if I'm honest.

And there were some mentalities and strongholds that were rooted in me from

my past and my childhood, things that I thought I could never do that.

I don't have a business background. I have no money.

I'm not ready to do this, God.

And he kept speaking to me.

And he was attempting to interrupt me, interrupt my plans in life,

because he knew I have something better.

And it wasn't I have something better for you, Jeannie, which it is,

but I can see past what you are asking, what you're thinking, what you're imagining.

I can see past just you, and I see all the people.

I see all the children. I see all the families. I see the community.

I see what you can't see, and you need to be interrupted.

And in that moment, I want to paint a picture for you, because I think when

you hear Pastor Devon's story of stepping away from a six-figure job to go into

the ministry, you're like, praise God,

he's got some faith. That's wonderful.

You hear somebody stand up and say, oh, I want to tell you the story of how my business started.

You're like, oh, that's great. You have a business. Like you see this tip of

the iceberg, but you don't see what's underneath.

And I want you to tap into that. You don't see the prayers.

You don't see the stretching and the uncomfortableness of walking by faith and not by sight.

And so in that moment, I remember that Sunday that God began to speak to me.

This was in 2020-21, going into that.

It was during COVID. small businesses

were not opening they were closing there

was division and strife and political stuff and just all kinds of things going

on that my natural mind was diverted thinking there's no way at that time I.

Josh and I were in the thick of parenting.

We had just received a diagnosis for one of our children, and we were overwhelmed,

if I'm going to be honest with you. We were overwhelmed.

Josh was working for a company at the time, which was a great company,

a blessing to our family, but the schedule was horrible.

He worked that job and another one with a similar schedule for almost seven

years, and it was a 12-hour swing shift. And if you don't know what a 12-hour

swing shift is, it means for three to four days he worked from 7 a.m.

To 7 p.m., maybe came home and had one or two days off to then switch his sleep schedule to 7 p.m.

To 7 a.m. So it was, I did not want to start a business.

And in that time, pastor comes to me and says, Jeannie, Stacy's been praying.

And she said she thinks you need to do the offering message on a Sunday that

God has given you a word and you need to speak.

I didn't want to be interrupted. I sat in the very back and that's where I wanted to stay.

So now God's saying you have to, it's time, step out and start this business.

And Stacey and pastor's like, God's given you a word. You've got a word for the people.

You've got a voice that needs to be heard I

didn't want to be interrupted so all of this stuff is happening I would go home

to Josh and be like do you see what is happening to me you're just working and

sleeping and I mean I was hard-headed don't be like me be willing and so eventually I said okay God.

I am willing. I am obedient. What do you want to do with this?

And then that began just an everyday step-by-step, this is what I want you to do.

Now, the business was not a side business. I had to step away from a full-time position.

I had no money in the bank to start a business. We did not take out a small business loan.

Thank the Lord by his grace, the business is debt-free. It was day by day, what do I do?

I mean relying on God. When I'm saying that I was terrified,

I think I know how Peter felt. I felt like I was going to die.

I was terrified. A spirit of fear tried to grip me.

How are we going to do this?

And Jesus said, I didn't ask you how. I just said,

do it move forward let

me interrupt your expectations because i

have something in store that you cannot even think about right now it was me

and the holy spirit every day lord tell me what to do how do i do insurance

companies how do i learn this and he showed up and he did he led us each and every step of the way and.

A distraction is just an attempt to divert your gaze to something else.

Every time that I begin to feel overwhelmed, every time when I begin to get

into doubt and question,

I remind myself, Jeannie, what are you looking at?

Is your gaze still on Jesus, or are you starting to look at other things?

Are you looking at the economy?

Are you looking at people?

What are you looking at? Are you focused on Christ? Are you keeping the main thing, the main thing?

Go with me to Matthew 26.

In verse 14, it says, Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot,

went to the chief priests and said, What are you willing to give me if I deliver him to you?

And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.

So from that time, he sought opportunity to betray him.

This is an individual in the Bible that we all know, Judas, who was not willing to be interrupted.

There are two stories in the Word that truly sadden my heart.

And it may not be the stories that you necessarily are thinking of,

but the fall of mankind with Adam and Eve and the story of Judas.

Now Judas is painted as a bad guy, right? We know what he did.

My heart breaks when I read the story of Judas, and this is why.

Now, this is my opinion, not necessarily the word, so you go before the Lord

and let him minister to you on this, but my opinion. I see Judas.

Judas was a man that he followed Jesus.

He was a friend of Jesus at one point.

I dare to say he loved Jesus at one point.

And you know what? But Jesus loved him too, even though he knew the whole time

what Judas was going to do to him.

What love, what mercy, what grace.

I cannot say that I'm there yet. That if I knew for the next three years this

guy was going to follow me and be with me and then betray me, would I love him?

Would I give my life for him?

Judas was a friend of Jesus. And I wonder when the shift took place.

When did he finally agree, I'm not letting God interrupt my expectation of what

this Messiah should be like.

When did he allow Satan to enter him and deceive him?

Was it the greed for money? We know he was a treasurer.

Was it greed? Was it the love of money?

I sometimes question, was it because he expected Jesus to be this Messiah who

was going to come in with all this authority and just wipe out the enemies?

He was going to be powerful, and he was going to be famous, and he was going

to lead this group of disciples to the top.

And he wanted that power.

Because he's seen that when the people wanted to overthrow Jesus' teaching,

one time they wanted to push Jesus off the cliff, that Jesus just walked right

out, unharmed. They couldn't touch him.

But then Jesus starts talking about, hey, I'm going to submit my life,

and I'm going to allow them to kill me.

I wonder, was that the moment that Judas was like, that's not what I signed up for.

That's my opinion. But here we see that Judas was not willing to be interrupted.

He went, he betrayed Christ.

And as we prepare to close, I'm going to pick up where we left with the youth

last week. So the youth kind of know where I'm going with this.

In Mark chapter 6, let's take a look at this one.

Mark 6 · chapter mention

Now, I'm going to set the story for you all. Jesus is our high priest.

We know that he is our high priest, and he knows all the weaknesses that we have.

He lived in a flesh body. He had the same emotions that we had.

And Jesus has just received word that his cousin John the Baptist has been beheaded, murdered.

Jesus felt grief. That is why he says that he is close to the brokenhearted.

When you've lost a loved one and you're going through something hard,

Jesus can give you peace which passes all understanding.

He knows how it feels.

So here Jesus has lost his cousin, and the disciples have been on a ministry

tour, and they come back.

And picking up in verse 30, it says the apostles returned to Jesus from their

ministry tour and told him all that they had done and taught.

Then Jesus said, let's go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest.

He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and

his disciples didn't even have time to eat.

They were busy.

They were probably overwhelmed. they were bombarded by people and people's needs and.

And Jesus said, let's go off and rest. We know that Jesus says,

come to me, all who are weary, and I will give you rest.

Jesus knew that they needed to get away and get spiritual rest.

So Jesus had an expectation. And I love this because even our Savior,

Jesus, had expectations in his human flesh, body, in his life. He had an expectation.

We are going to get on this boat, and we are going to cross over,

and we're going to get rest.

He had just found out that his cousin was brutally murdered.

And so they left by boat for a quiet place where they could be alone.

But many people recognized them and saw them leaving, and people from many towns

ran ahead along the shore and got there ahead of them.

Now Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat.

I don't know about you, but if you were dealing with all of this and you stepped out of the boat,

would you have been willing to serve or

would you have been like my goodness

every time I have some peace and quiet here

these people come and they have to interrupt me thank God Jesus did not do that

because I'm sure I go to the throne of God at times where I'm like God it's

me again help me And he's never turned me away and said, Jeannie,

I'm tired of hearing from you. He's never done that.

He welcomes us with open arms. So Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from

the boat, and he had compassion on them.

Jesus had expectations just like us, and he allowed God the Father to interrupt him.

He stepped out of that boat and saw the people.

He saw the need, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep

without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

My question today is, are you willing to be interrupted?

We're about to transition into a new opportunity.

We're about to meet new people that are coming in.

We're about to be able to do greater outreaches.

Even your own life. I don't know what you're stepping in tomorrow.

Are you willing to let God have his way in your life?

That's what it means. When I say, are you willing to be interrupted,

what I'm really saying is, are you willing to let God be God and you be a believer? Stop asking how.

Stop asking why and what if this happens and just believe.

Are you willing to let God stretch you?

Are you willing to let God change your small thinking to big thoughts?

And big dreams?

Because God can do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.

So are we willing to step out of his way and let him have his way?

As you begin to focus,

laser focus on Jesus, and as you are willing to let him have his way in your

life, that is how you experience true life.