“Not long after this, a hurricane-force wind called the northeaster blew down from the island” (Acts 27:14, NET).

During my days in Nigeria, the pastor of our small church in Sanubi shared a story from his childhood. When he was in the third grade, on a Friday night, he was awakened by screaming. His home was on fire and burned to the ground with all his family possessions. Later, he discovered how the fire had started. His father had been drying some meat over a fire to serve his juju. Some of the fat from the meat fell into the fire and exploded into flames, igniting the house. His father never worshipped idols again.

Life never fully goes the way we plan it. Each of us experience difficult disruptions in our lives, some incredibly painful or tragic, others just unpleasant detours. It is those moments of disruption (those detours in our planned paths, those cliffs we come to, and over which we sometimes fall) that define who we are—and often change us into different people. As followers of Christ, they make us ask again the important questions:

Why am I here?

Where am I going?

What is truly important?

Am I completing the mission for which I was created?

How closely am I walking with God?

Disruptions are painful, but sometimes change is necessary, and “there is no change without friction,” as Oswald Chambers said.

God may or may not cause specific disruptions in our lives, but He will always use them to accomplish His purpose.

Within those disruptions, He may:

• Stop us at the edge of a moral or spiritual cliff
• Reset our direction when we veer from His mission
• Transform our character to be more like Jesus
• Help us to reorder our priorities
• Provide us the opportunity to draw closer to Him

For Christians, each of these actions are directed by His Spirit, and each demands a personal response of our own. We must choose to stop, choose to turn, choose to change, choose new priorities and choose to let the disruption draw us closer to God. If we make the proper choices guided by God’s Spirit, He will always provide the power to make it happen.

Dear Father,

When the disruptions come, help me draw closer to you and place myself in the center of your will.

Amen