THOUGHTS ON THE LORD’S DAY
“Do you hear the tapping and understand the message?”
During the great depression, it was a common sight especially in large cities, to see long lines of men looking for work. Many had lost faith in themselves and hope for a brighter future. Most were feeling angry and humiliated, living on welfare.
One employer had one job available. As word got out, a long line formed outside his plant and office door, men hoping for an interview. The secretary showed the applicants into his office one at a time.
During the process after some time, one man jumped up and ran past the secretary, right into the boss’s office. In a few minutes, the boss came out with the man and announced to everyone that the job was filled, and the rest could go home.
Many began to complain that the man had not waited his turn and it was not fair. The boss explained that during the hiring process, he had thought of a quicker way to select the right person. He needed someone who could understand Morse Code, so he tapped this message with his pencil on his desk so everyone could hear: “If you can hear this, jump up now and run into my office.”
Everyone in line heard the tapping, but it only meant something to the man who had an “ear to hear.” Because he understood the message, he got the job.
Unless and until you hear from God, little else matters. God wants to interrupt our lives every day, so He can use us to intervene in the lives of others. We must not only hear the tapping, we must understand the message and be moved to action.
The Bible is filled with examples of Divine interruptions. Noah lived an ordinary life for 500 years before God said to build an ark. Abraham was a 75-year old successful businessman when God told him to leave it all and take a trip to an unspecified destination. Moses was an 80-year-old shepherd whose life was interrupted by a burning bush. God assigned him to deliver several million people from bondage in a foreign land.
God is always looking for ordinary people who will allow Him to interrupt their lives with extraordinary opportunities. Those who love Him enough will respond when they “hear the tapping.”
Divine interruptions come most of the time without warning, but never to the unprepared. You don’t plan for interruptions. However, if you want God to use you, you prepare for the unexpected. God is always looking for prepared people that He can interrupt their daily routine with Divine opportunities to make a difference in someone else’s life.
Prepared people know they have an unchanging message, called the Gospel. They also know that because the Holy Spirit lives in them they have unlimited power to deliver it to broken and hurting people. The lame man in Acts 3 represents the lost and hurting that must see and hear the Gospel in us.
The religious people brought him to the temple every day for 40 years to beg but were powerless to help him walk. Then one day, everything changed. Along came Peter and John, anointed and full of the Holy Ghost. Because of their preparation and willingness to be interrupted a man’s life was changed forever.
Do you want to make a difference for someone in 2020? Are you prepared and willing to be interrupted? If not, God may have to find someone else.