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The Bible says…
“A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9, NKJV).
Welcome to Interruption #2,000.
If you had told me 10 years ago that I would sit down six days a week and spend one to two hours a day, for six and a half years, writing a blog, I would have asked to check your temperature. Yet here we are, roughly one million words in 2000 posts about theology, bicycles, cat illustrations, and teaching about growing in Christ.
And honestly, writing about spiritual growth can be like learning to ride a unicycle on a gravel driveway—an endeavor that quickly leaves you with cuts, bruises, and the realization that only in Jesus (not Interruptions) can we find hope.
Hitting this milestone feels monumental, and it’s inspired me to look back and realize how much paper—or rather, glowing pixels—I have inflicted on the internet. Together we’ve explored spiritual gifts, talked about Christianity as more relationship than religion, dissected specific prayer, and did it all without a Miggy Moment.
The Anatomy of an Interruption
What is an interruption, anyway?
They are annoying speed bumps in the life that we think we should be living. We hate them, tap our steering wheel, and wonder where the driver of the slow pick-up truck in front of us got his driver’s license, too often complaining that life’s interruptions conspire against our omniscient Google® Calendar.
But in the economy of the Spirit, interruptions in life, and the challenges from this blog, should perhaps be considered divine appointments wearing scary Halloween costumes.
Examining Scripture, every single person God used in a significant way had their schedule completely wrecked. Moses was minding his own business tending sheep—arguably the least intellectually stimulating job available in the Bronze Age—when a bush decided to catch fire without burning up. Now that is an interruption. Gideon was hiding in a winepress, threshing wheat in fear, when an angel showed up and called him a mighty warrior. Talk about awkward timing. Paul was on the road to Damascus with a very clear, highly organized itinerary for persecuting Christians, and Jesus knocked him right off his horse and into three days of blindness.
God’s favorite tool for redirection is the holy roadblock.
Two Thousand Interruptions
Writing 2000 blog posts can be like riding my bicycle 16 miles north on the bike path between Springfield and Urbana, Ohio.
Some days, the wind is at my back, the gears shift smoothly, and I imagine myself touring the French countryside with a loaf of artisan bread in my backpack. The words flow, the theological dots connect, and I finish typing with the confidence of a man who’s solved all the world’s problems before breakfast.
And then there are the other days.
Those are the uphill slogs into a 20-mile-per-hour headwind, chain slipping, legs burning, wondering why on earth I decided today was a good day to ride. I stare at a blank screen, the cursor blinking rhythmically like a tiny, mocking digital metronome. I type a sentence, delete it. I type another sentence, delete it. And I briefly consider taking up professional basket-weaving or opening one of those coffee houses where cats roam free.
Looking Ahead to the Next One Million Days
In a previous post inspired by April Fools’ Day, we looked at what our lives will be like one million days from now—roughly 2,700 years into our eternity with Christ. When we zoom out that far, today’s worries look wonderfully small. The deadlines, administrative headaches, lost keys, and political squabbles all fade against the brilliant technicolor backdrop of God’s grace.
Interruption #2,000 isn’t a finish line; it’s just a nice place to pull over, catch our breath, wipe the sweat from our brows, and look back down the road we’ve traveled together.
Thank you for reading, for arguing, for laughing, and for walking alongside this blog through every detour, road closure, and divine interruption. Here’s to the next 2000 Interruptions!
Also, thank you to Barbara, my wife and a fantastic graphic designer, and Sharon Wildman, the editor (think what it’s like to edit the OG!) of Interruptions. Here we are thinking about Florida instead of Interruptions!
