UNPLANNED MINISTRY

On Sunday we looked into the apostle Paul’s third missionary journey and dwelt on the encounter of Eutychus, a young man who fell out of a window and died while Paul was preaching. God then worked a miracle as Paul rushed down and embraced Eutychus, declaring him alive! The part of the story that jumped out to me was what happened next, when Paul then goes back upstairs and continues breaking bread and sharing the gospel with those who were there listening to him.

The lesson is a simple but powerful one, ministry is often what happens when your “ministry” gets interrupted. Paul neither overreacted or underreacted when this crisis occurred. He did exactly what the Holy Spirit wanted him to do, which was to meet the needs of the people that were with him. For Eutychus, he stopped what he was doing and rushed to him in his time of need, allowing God to work through him and bring this young man back to life. And for those who had been at the house listening to him preach all night, he went back and ate with them and continued sharing the gospel with them, until dawn. 

Planned ministry is great. It allows people to prepare and get on the same page, and to provide a holistic approach and resources to those you are serving. But unplanned ministry is divine, because it was only unplanned to us. God knows what he is doing and we are just vessels, waiting to be poured out for His purpose. So, how are we responding to the “interruptions” in our own lives? Are we allowing our hearts to be open to unplanned ministry? Lord let it be so.