Bonhoffer Chapter 4

In the middle of this chapter, Bonhoffer states, 

“One who worries about the loss of the time such petty, outward acts of hopefulness entail is usually taking the importance of his own career too solemnly” (99). 

This point is really important to think about, as we live in such a time-oriented culture, it can be easy to forget that God already has a plan for each day, and his plan trumps our plans. Bonhoffer goes on to make a bold statement that really struck me while I was reading and forced me to think through if I allow God’s plans to trump my own. He says, 

“We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God” (99).

 Bonhoffer explains that there are often times That God sends us interruptions in order to fulfill His plan for that day, but we as Christians often get frustrated and work to push against that plan. I know that I have done this before. I may even know that things are changing because God wants a different outcome, but selfishly in the moment I feel like my plan is better, so I would do everything I can to stop God’s plan. There are times that God continues to push back, and I could see why once his plan is fulfilled. Other times I think God was providing an opportunity to further His kingdom, and because I did not follow his lead, the “plan” went on as I lead it. Unfortunately, those times were a missed opportunity to have conversations about the Lord with non-believers who were showing interest, and I was more afraid of saying the wrong thing than following God’s lead and trusting that He would put the words in my mouth. When Bonhoffer says,

 “we need to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God”, 

he is making a powerful and truthful statement. We are often so wrapped up in time and where we need to get to next, that we forget time doesn’t matter when God wants to interrupt us. Why is it that we think our work and our own plans are better than Gods plans? I wish I had a direct answer for that. however, I do believe that our desire to push against God’s interruptions has to do with the enemy speaking lies that we aren’t good enough to follow through with His plan, that we won’t say the right words, or simply that our plan is better than God’s. When it’s put into words, it sounds silly. In the moment though, the enemy has a way with words, and with lies. On a happy note, when we follow God’s lead when He interrupts us, I know it bears fruit. The times I’ve followed through with what may seem like difficult conversations about God with non-believers, and trust that God’s desire will be done in said conversation, these times have been the most fruitful and memorable.  I love to hear other people’s hearts and try to understand where their beliefs are coming from. When we build relationships with non-believers, it opens up doors for God to interrupt and do His work.