CONAN O'BRIEN GETS KNOCKED OUTConan O’Brien, host of NBC’s “Tonight Show,” accidentally hit his head during a stunt while filming for last Friday’s show. (The show was then cancelled and a rerun was aired last Friday). O’Brien says the last thing he remembers was enjoying a sketch, only to wake up later being served juice and cookies in the hospital. While the details of the stunt that caused the accident have not been released, O’Brien is said to be just fine now. Despite this brief interruption in show programming, O’Brien is expected to resume filming today for the “Tonight Show.”
As O’Brien learned well, sometimes out of-the-blue interruptions take place and mess up our plans. Things that we don’t expect to happen, and sometimes things that we actually hope NEVER happen, often take place and throw our plans all out of kilter.
Once, the Bible’s Paul experienced an interruption that trumps O’Brien’s hit on the head by a long shot. As Acts 20:7-12 explains, Paul was preaching to a group of people in a crowded room on the third floor of a building. Paul had been preaching most of the day, and midnight finally rolled around. A young man who was sitting in the window opening began to fall asleep as Paul talked “on and on.” When the young man was finally in a deep sleep, he fell out of the window and dropped three floors to his death. Talk about “interruptions,” this was of the worst kind!
The cool part of the story is how Paul responded to the interruption. The Bible says that Paul stopped speaking, ran down to the ground and threw himself on the young man (no doubt to pray for him), and the young man miraculously came back to life. But check out what happened next – Paul then went back upstairs, he ate with those he had been speaking to, and then he went right back to his preaching – which lasted until daybreak that morning. The interruption, while unexpected, unwanted, tragic, and huge in magnitude, did NOT take Paul off course! It only sent in a ripple in his plans, and Paul then took care of the unexpected interruption and got right back on focus!
Maybe you’ve experienced a recent interruption of sorts. Perhaps you have been doing something that God has called you do, only to be sidelined by an interruption (whether tragic or otherwise) that you NEVER would have expected or hoped for. Here’s the challenge: Respond the way Paul did! – Seek God’s help in order to handle the interruption swiftly, and then don’t lose one step in getting back to business! Life’s interruptions don’t have to be game enders that put you in a stalemate situation; God can actually use them for the best (his glory) – if you let him! When Paul’s prayers led to God’s healing of the young man who had died, the Bible says the people were “greatly comforted” – and no doubt, a mighty impression of the Lord’s power and grace had been ingrained upon their minds forever! Life’s interruptions can be a good thing, when dealt with swiftly and properly – with God’s divine hand on the situation!
Don’t let interruptions get you down. Just as O’Brien will be back on the tube tonight, and just as Paul was back upstairs preaching moments after his interruption, you can be right back where God wants you to be after your interruption!
