“And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place…they departed into a desert place…the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them…Jesus…was moved with compassion.” (Mark 6:31-34)
It is easy for us to be annoyed by interruptions. I blush to think how often I have chafed at unexpected demands that prevented me from accomplishing some self-appointed task. Perhaps I was writing, and the words were flowing easily. Then the phone rang or someone was at the door in need of counsel. It was an unwelcome intrusion.
The Lord Jesus was never upset by interruptions. He accepted them all as part of His Father’s plan for that day. This gave tremendous poise and serenity to His life.
Actually, the extent to which we are interrupted is often an index of our usefulness. A writer in the Anglican Digest said, “When you are exasperated by interruptions, try to remember that their very frequency may indicate the valuableness of your life. Only the people who are full of help and strength are burdened by other people’s need. The interruptions which we chafe at are the credentials of our indispensability. The greatest condemnation that anyone could incur—and it is a danger to guard against—is to be too independent, so unhelpful, that nobody ever interrupts us and we are left uncomfortably alone.
We all smile nervously when we read the experience of a busy housewife. One day when she had planned an unusually full schedule, she looked up from her work to see her husband come home earlier than usual. “What are you doing here?” she asked with thinly-veiled annoyance. “I live here,” he replied with a pained smile. She wrote later, “Since that day I’ve made it a point to lay aside my work when my husband comes home. I give him a loving welcome and let him know he’s really tops.”
Every morning we should turn the day over to the Lord, asking Him to arrange every detail. Then if someone interrupts us, it is because He has sent that person. We should find out the reason and minister to it. That could be the most important thing we do all day, even if it came disguised as an interruption.
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His more than over eighty-four works published in North America are characterized by a clarity and economy of words that only comes by a major time investment in the Word of God.
MacDonald graduated with an AB degree from Tufts College (now University) in 1938 and an MBA degree from Harvard Business School in 1940. During the 1940's he was on active duty in the US Navy for five years.
He was President of Emmaus Bible College, a teacher, preacher, and Plymouth Brethren theologian alongside his ministry as a writer. He was a close friend and worker with O.J. Gibson.
MacDonald last resided in California where he was involved in his writing and preaching ministry. He went to be with the Lord in 2007.