This morning I was supposed to be going to the doctor at 9:30 to discuss a prescription I take regularly for acid reflux. About 15 minutes before I was planning to leave, the doctor’s office called asking if I could come later in the morning. Apparently, they have a new computer system and in the process of trying to work out all the kinks, they overbooked their schedule and had two people scheduled for the time slot in which I was supposed to come. I was annoyed to say the least.

Now, the truth is, it wasn’t that much of an inconvenience for me to come at a later time. I did have something else planned during the later appointment time, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t delay. Some days, I might not have been able to rearrange my schedule, but this wasn’t one of those days, and yet, I was still annoyed. I had my day planned out, and I didn’t like their office coming in and changing things on me.

I started thinking about this later. I wonder how many times God tries to interrupt our days, but rather than seeing the interruption as the divine appointment that it is, we simply become annoyed because things are not turning out the way we had planned. I wonder how many people have crossed my path who might have been touched by Him through me, but whom I didn’t see because I was too busy and didn’t want to be bothered. How many blessings have I and others missed because I was annoyed by a scheduling change and unwilling to go with it?

This is another reason that having our quiet, alone time with Him is so important. We must be ever vigilant about developing a personal, intimate relationship with Him so that we are in tune with His will. This equips us also to better recognize when those divine appointments come.

The book of 1 Kings, verses 11-12, tell about how when Elijah was in hiding, God told him that He was going to pass by. A great and powerful wind came and shattered the rocks on the mountain, but the Lord was not in the wind. Next came an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After that was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire came a gentle whisper. Elijah knew that the gentle whisper was the Lord.

Spend time with Him. Make it a priority so that you, too, can recognize and hear the gentle whisper. That annoying interruption just might be God Himself.