There is no one who likes a schedule more than me. I like to know ahead of time what is going to happen and when, so that I can prepare and do what I’m supposed to do on time. I am learning slowly that things do not always run according to schedule. Other things always seem to intervene, and think to myself how will I ever get everything done? But God is in charge of our lives and orchestrates what happens to us, so He must put these interruptions in our lives for a reason. What do we do when our busy day of moving is interrupted by an upset friend? It is easy to ignore them or come up with a reason why we can’t help them and to press on with the matter on our schedules. But what does Jesus want us to do?

I think this passage from Matthew is a great example of how Jesus would react. “While he was saying this, a ruler came and knelt before him and said, ‘My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.’ Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples. Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, ‘If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.’ Jesus turned and saw her, ‘Take heart daughter,’ he said, ‘your faith has healed you.’ And the woman was healed from that moment.” Matthew 9:18-22

It is easy to stop and help people when we have time, but it is much harder to make time to help others when we feel overwhelmed with our own busy schedules. Jesus was on his way to raise someone from the dead, so I think his task was pretty important! But he still stopped to heal this woman. If anyone could ever have an excuse that their schedule was more important than helping someone else, I think this was it. But Jesus made time for this woman. This passage should be a reminder to all of us that no task or schedule of ours is so important that we can’t stop to help those in need around us.

Christie Crowe
School-Aged Children’s Director