I enjoy watching sports, especially when the player or team is in their game. I use the phrase in their game to mean they are in their grove to play their best. To be honest, I don’t enjoy watching when a player or team is really off their game. Their timing is off, memory fails, easily distracted, or disrupted, which leads to making inadvertent mistakes. I feel sorry for them because I know the frustrations they are probably feeling. It reminds me of times when the right words don’t come to me, or my mind or emotions are working overtime when I’m trying to do something important. I don’t know why this happens to us from time to time, it just does.
Did the humanity of Jesus ever have that happen to Him? The Bible reports it did. His cousin John the Baptist had baptized him in water and plainly referred to Jesus as being the Messiah who would take away the sins of the world. Jesus loved him and tracked his ministry. He even said no human born was greater than John. Who might be such a hero to you?
John’s ministry landed him in prison where he was beheaded. Try to imagine how you might feel when you heard that your hero, John, was executed by beheading in prison. I highly suspect it would shake your tree!!! Matthew 14:13-14 records His response. It reports Jesus’ emotional response when someone told Him what happened to John. He felt a need to process this privately, so He got in a boat with His disciples and headed for a solitary place to grieve. If your hero was killed suddenly, you can relate to His response. But was this His Father’s plan for Him?
Rather than finding a solitary place to grieve, a large crowd who had followed His boat awaited Him on the shore. Can you picture how the humanity of Jesus might have initially reacted to this disruption to His plan? Don’t forget, He had just left active ministry to find a temporary, solitary place to grieve the loss of His hero. There’s a chance that he felt both positive and negative emotions, possibly even some frustration. Yet, when He faced the crowd, He intuitively knew He must bite the bullet, set aside His plan, and again pour Himself out in ministry amid His grief for John. What isn’t recorded is the possible wrestling in His human mind and emotions. Imagine if Jesus had been dogmatic about doing what He had justifiably started out to do. He would have deprived others and missed the joy of feeding 5000+ people with 5 loaves and two fishes.
His response to the Spirit’s disruption is a brilliant lesson for each of us, especially for me. I had a similar experience. While I immediately followed what the Spirit called me to do, I wrestled with owning His different plan. Here is the stunning part. While floundering to get my mind and emotions aligned with His plan, He was already unpacking the related details that led to multiple miracles involved in that assignment—just as in Jesus’ case. This makes the Father trumping Jesus’ plans without telling Jesus ahead of time is so intriguing and revealing to me. It teaches all of us that while our humanity may travel in a justifiable yet slightly different direction; the Spirit is already setting the wheels in motion for us to fulfill His assignment. We also see the Spirit’s faithfulness to keep us on the right path, regardless of our misguided human plans.
I have a strong desire to be flexible and adjust my plans quickly when the Spirit causes disruptions. The path to achieving that is identical to the path to becoming more intimate with Him. How have you reacted to the Spirit’s interruptions to your misguided plans? What preparations can you make to be ready for those disruptions?