The ministry you’re praying for may be hiding inside the interruption you’re trying to avoid
I’ve always been the kind of person who likes to stay busy.
I like structure. I like momentum. I like progress. I enjoy building things, solving problems, and getting things done. Give me a goal, a deadline, or a challenge, and something inside me naturally locks in. I’m the type of person who makes a to do list, works the list, and feels good when the boxes are checked at the end of the day.
In many ways, that drive has been a gift from God. It has helped me in business. It has helped me in leadership. It has helped me build ministries, lead teams, and get things done. There is value in discipline, focus, and productivity.
But over the years, I’ve also realized there’s a danger that comes with being driven. Our biggest strengths can also become our biggest weaknesses if we’re not careful.
And that’s the danger.
Sometimes driven people become so focused on the task that they forget the purpose behind the task.
As a pastor, I have to constantly remind myself that ministry is not ultimately about projects, programs, meetings, sermons, emails, strategies, or schedules.
It’s about people.
And the crazy thing is, people rarely show up according to your schedule.
They interrupt it.
That unexpected phone call from someone hurting.
That person who catches you after church.
That friend who needs to talk.
That random conversation God orchestrates while you’re trying to get somewhere else.
If we’re not careful, we can start viewing people as interruptions to our “real work.”
But the older I get, the more I realize something powerful:
The interruptions ARE the work.
When you study the life of Jesus, it becomes obvious how much ministry happens in interruptions.
Jesus was constantly interrupted.
A hurting woman touched His garment while He was on His way somewhere else.
Blind Bartimaeus cried out from the roadside.
Zacchaeus interrupted His journey just trying to catch a glimpse of Him.
Over and over again, people interrupted His schedule. Yet Jesus never acted annoyed, frustrated, or too busy.
Why?
Because He understood something we often forget.
People are not interruptions to ministry.
They are the ministry.
Pause for a moment and reflect on that.
How many opportunities have we missed because we were too busy?
Too focused.
Too rushed.
Too distracted.
Too locked in on our own agenda.
Sometimes I wonder how many divine appointments we walk right past because we’re obsessed with efficiency.
Now don’t get me wrong. I still believe in discipline, structure, planning, and hard work. Those things matter. Stewardship matters. Time management matters.
But people matter more.
At the end of our lives, nobody is going to care how many emails we answered, meetings we attended, or boxes we checked off our list.
What will matter is how we loved people.
How we encouraged people.
How we helped people.
How we pointed people toward Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 says:
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up…”
That takes time.
That takes patience.
That often takes interruptions.
Maybe the thing God wants to do through you today won’t happen in your carefully crafted schedule.
Maybe the interruption isn’t distracting you from ministry.
Maybe it IS the ministry.
Alex Bryant is a pastor, author, and speaker who writes about race, faith, and culture in America.
