The prophet Jonah’s existence was interrupted by a call of God that would require a complete change of life. And it scared him enough to make him run in the opposite direction. Yet, what seemed to be an unnecessary and useless interruption was really an opportunity for Jonah to be involved in something the likes of which the Old Testament world had never seen before. This interruption was really a divine intervention and it held more adventure and possibility than he could have ever imagined. We, like Jonah, tend to run from interruptions. When major pains and minor problems cause a hiccup in our carefully calculated plans and goals we head in the opposite direction. Who knows what we might be missing by running from what could very well be God’s means of steering us toward the most magnificent outcome of our lives. Jonah could tell us a story or two. So could you. And so does popular conference speaker and author Priscilla Shirer in this personal account of opportunities lost and lessons learned—the amazing freedom and fulfillment that comes from going with God even when He’s going against your grain.
chapter one and now for something
completely different
for since the world began no ear has
heard and no eye has seen a god like you
who worked for those who wait for him
Isaiah chapter 64 verse 4 NLT I wish I’d
known then what I know now what the Lord
is helping me begin to discover maybe
then when those unexpected circumstances
surprised me I would have been better
able to corral my untamed unruly
emotions maybe then the twists of life
wouldn’t have caused such a twist in my
heart making me so severe and
unforgiving maybe then I would have
recognized God’s unseen hand in all of
it and would have met the frustration of
disappointment with a wink and a smirk
knowing he was behind it all that this
interruption was merely his way of
laying a foundation for better things
maybe then I wouldn’t have tried so hard
to control it or hurry through it but
would have yielded to it and embraced
with the Lord allowed maybe maybe not
but certainly not at the time you see my
life was going to be music literally the
first time I sang in church I was 5
years old
I’ve got concrete memories of my little
wobbly voice in knees that carried me
through that day from that moment on I
was sure God wanted me to be a singer I
planned for it aspired to it and dreamed
of what it would be like to stand on the
stage in the recording studio singing my
songs for him I even auditioned for
several nationally known singing groups
in my late teens and early 20s and was
thrilled when they said they’d actually
like me to come on board with them but
people I went to for counsel encouraged
me not to jump into music too soon and
pass up some other experiences that
might prove more valuable later by the
time I waited for all the obstacles to
clear those great music opportunities
had passed me by I
missed my chance the exciting open doors
that have been accessible to me before
were now closed I was devastated what
was I supposed to do now when the one
thing I’d wanted the path I thought was
God’s plan for me was no longer an
available option I wish I’d known then
what I know now music was apparently out
much to the dismay of my hopes and
dreams
so after batting around some
alternatives I decided to pursue a
degree in radio and television it seemed
to suit me if I couldn’t do the music
thing I could at least enjoy a stage
presence on camera television proved to
be an intense high-pressure undertaking
a lot of hard work but very exciting
especially when some jobs opened up for
me at several different stations
performing in various on-air capacities
with each new assignment I truly believe
this might be the platform that would
elevate me to bigger and better things
but each time I started working for a
particular show their ratings began to
suffer every single one was cancelled
within a year of my joining the team
talk about giving a girl a complex this
couldn’t be happening I had studied for
this I had put in the hours I was paying
my dues and was absolutely certain the
Lord had steered me toward doing this
for a career for a livelihood obviously
then I had heard him wrong or he had set
me up to fail what does a singer and
broadcast professional do when nothing
she feels called to is working out I was
barely my 20s and already feeling washed
up I wish I’d known then what I know now
meanwhile I was dating a young man a
wonderful guy who had captured my heart
and seemed like the one I wanted to
spend the rest of my life with we had
gotten pretty serious even beginning to
make those first sunny promises of
marriage but in one of those twists and
turns on the road to romantic bliss our
car had run off the road
we were done and I was totally
distressed I begged God to restore my
relationship with this man we were meant
to be together
I knew it but despite all the talks and
time spent together all the plans and
dreams we had begun imagining fact was
he didn’t want me anymore and it came
close to killing me I couldn’t sleep I
couldn’t eat I couldn’t see anything
good in store for me I was losing at
life and losing at love all at the same
time I wish I’d known then what I know
now there was somebody else for me years
later I was in love more on that later
and after three years of marriage
with little effort God allowed me to get
pregnant we were thrilled soon however
almost before the reality of baby makes
three had even begun to hit us I
miscarried well we had hardly been able
to keep our minds on anything else
because of our excited anticipation now
we could hardly keep our minds on
anything else because of our grief and
disappointment life interrupted again
how could this happen why would God
allow it did it mean we’d never be able
to have children could we possibly get
past this horrible experience and dare
to try again knowing how low the lows
can be when your joy is snatched away
yes we could yes we did first came
Jackson then two years later Jerry jr.
and when these fun little guys began
rounding the corner from toddlerhood to
the school-age years Jerry and I decided
we were closing up shop in the
baby-making business we both loved being
parents but were so looking forward to
life without diapers sippy cups and
colicky crying spells in the middle of
the night I was fairly certain I didn’t
have another pregnancy baby toddler
experience in me well yes
I did when those faint pink lines shaded
their way into a plus sign on the
pregnancy test I brought home from the
store Jerry’s and my plan for a new
phase of life suddenly became our plan
for an unexpected phase of life this was
not what we had in mind we have felt so
complete and satisfied with our two
little boys in our nice little life and
dare I say it we were shocked to realize
we were now headed in another direction
a six pound 12 ounce change of plans
by the name of Jude Maddox Shire and a
sweet and good-natured fellow as he is
the October he was born represented a
whole new chapter in our household an
unexpected one then in the midst of our
trying to adjust my emotions and plans
to suit this new development our stable
settled ministry began to experience
some growing pains of its own while my
pregnant waistline was expanding with no
regard for the content in my closet our
ministry seemed to be following suit
with a growing family to manage in a
full load of ministry responsibilities
to contend with already even before
having to think about adding a new baby
to the mix we were stunned to be thrust
into another realm of opportunity and
challenge our tiny staff of which my
husband and I made up 2/3 was already
stretched to the limit we were grateful
and excited of course about what we saw
God doing it’s just that we were caught
a bit off guard
we’ve been content with the regular pace
of family and ministry life as we known
it for several years we had learned how
to find our rhythm and balance but now
things were changing everything was
changing personally and professionally
so a lot of things had happened along
the way to alter my planned trajectory
of life a music ministry maybe not
television career maybe not that first
expectation of marriage first baby maybe
not
do you parent to kids let’s call it a
completed family
maybe not Lord how about at least an
easily managed ministry certainly not I
wish I knew then what I’m starting to
see now call it the interrupted life you
want me to what I suspect that you too
have experienced some interruptions
along the way it may have been something
tragic the death of someone close to you
a health scare a debilitating accident a
love lost an opportunity missed a life
goal unreached it may have caused such a
drastic change in your moods and makeup
in manner of living you almost don’t
remember who you were before it happened
in many ways you’ve become defined by
this thing that occurred this one
startling event but threw everything off
balance but interruptions are not
limited to huge horrible things in fact
they can be rather minor by comparison
car trouble
chicken pox a funny spoiled smell in the
meat you’d set out to cook for dinner
still it’s caught you by surprise you
weren’t expecting it you were travelling
along with your list of to do’s in mind
fully knowing what the day held when
something just crept out of nowhere and
caught you off guard suddenly your
schedule is shot to pieces along with
all your preset notions on what it would
take to get everything done
you’ve been blindsided forced to deal
with a new wrinkle a new obstacle to
navigate around interruptions they come
in all sizes large and small anywhere
between majorly challenging and mildly
inconvenient an unforeseen hit to your
family budget a best friend moving out
of town a spouse confessing that he
hasn’t been totally honest with you
about something a doctor’s report that
is less than desirable a pregnancy test
that reads negative again
a new supervisor at work who’s nothing
like the last one you grown to like so
much another year of singleness when
marriage is what you want a sister who’s
going in for surgery and needs you to
watch your kids for a few days it may
even be something good like being asked
to take on a new role in ministry or
finding out you have three babies in
that belly of yours instead of just one
yes that happened to a friend of mine
helping your daughter plan a summer
wedding or having to move to another
state to accommodate a promotion but
even these good interruptions are going
to take a lot of your time they’re going
to make things different then you’ve
been accustomed to they’re going to cost
you an expense you hadn’t accounted for
right now so how do you respond what’s
the best way to navigate the unexpected
a Life interrupted just to be clear I
hate interruptions while I’m a
spontaneous girl who enjoys impromptu
adventures and activities on occasion
whenever I get a goal or plan fixed in
my mind I’m as persistent as the little
squirrel
i watch scouting for acorns in my
backyard this morning I don’t want to be
detoured until that nut is in my paws in
my mouth then mmm in my tummy any detour
away from that mission makes me antsy
and unsettled it’s the way I’ve always
been
stick-to-itiveness I think they call it
a good healthy trait but watch out one
that can quickly morph into one of my
worst when I’m not willing to bend and
flex to God’s will when I’m pretty sure
what he wants is different from my
aspiration that’s what I found myself
facing when little Jude was on the way
and I was trying desperately to figure
out how I’d be able to balance the
demands of a growing family
and ministry I loved my life but felt
stretched to the limit so I knew my
heart wasn’t exactly into this didn’t
God know that Jerry and I had spent lots
of time carefully crafting these plans
for our lives we’d given away all the
baby paraphernalia in our certainty that
our family was complete the crib was
gone the baby swing was gone the bouncy
seat was gone and lo and behold I had
some semblance of a waistline for the
first time in years both of our kids had
graduated out of toddlerhood and I had
mentally refocused myself onto a life
with two young boys who unlike when they
were babies could verbalize to me where
it hurt what was wrong and how I could
help so again I admit I was whining a
little bit complaining those first few
months of morning sickness were up let’s
just say I was not the kind of Priscilla
you’d want to be around it was not my
best moment I assure you especially as
our ministry was growing and we knew
we’d need to add to our staff if he
wanted any chance of keeping up we liked
it small and intimate the way it was but
it couldn’t stay that way any longer
obviously both of these things the new
baby and the growth and ministry were
gifts from God let’s be honest sometimes
God’s gifts are disguised beneath new
responsibilities one day in the midst of
my self-imposed pity party I got the
feeling God was asking me a question was
I going to be a whiner a complainer a
grumbler a martyr someone who wanted
everybody to feel sorry for for the rest
of her life even when there was really
nothing to feel sorry for me about was
this going to become my pattern for how
I handle things that didn’t go my way
was this the kind of person my husband
and family would need to get used to
living with or was I going to yield to
what God was calling me to do not just
physically with this pregnancy and the
additional needs in ministry but also in
my attitude my mind my heart my spirit
was I going to surrender myself
completely to him was I going to embrace
his plans for me turns out God was about
to send me another blessed interruption
not just dude my new little son but
Jonah
pages of Jonah’s well-known book of the
Bible God began to speak a new word to
my heart even as I was wrestling with my
interrupted life God started showing me
some things through the eyes of a
runaway prophet a man who also was
interrupted from a life of relative
comfort a man who saw God’s change of
plans as something to be avoided and
escaped at all costs
a man who would eventually need a raging
sea storm and three days in a fish’s
belly before he would come to terms with
what surrender was all about and what it
could accomplish I didn’t want to be
like Jonah I didn’t want to require God
to reach into his bottom drawer of
disciplinary tactics before I came
around to his way of thinking as much as
I may not have planned to take on the
responsibility of a newborn baby again
not right at the moment at least or felt
we were prepared to take on the new
responsibilities that ministry growth
would undoubtedly require I really
didn’t want the responsibility of
becoming a person who thinks she knows
more than God does
I’ve seen that in myself before I saw in
Jonah again and I did not want to be
that kind of woman anymore honestly
knowing my track record with God and how
he shown himself strong in the face of
all my life interruptions I should have
handled this phase of my life
differently I was a bit disappointed in
myself because looking back I had a lot
to thank God for you see if I had joined
one of those singing groups in my
teenage years putting my life on hold
while chasing a dream God knew wasn’t
for me I would have probably continued
on that path long after I’d forgotten
that my first job in life was not to
sing for the Lord but to listen for his
direction and guidance I’m pretty sure
now that his plan for me all along was
to be involved in teaching ministry and
I’m just as sure that if I’ve been out
on the singing circuit I would have made
the journey back a much longer Road than
it was supposed to be in fact I might
never have gotten here at all
if only I’d known those years I spent
studying television and getting some
great on-air experience seems largely
wasted to me at one time but what I once
considered a pointless detour turned out
to be the ideal training ground for the
video driven Bible studies God knew I’d
be involved in later on if only I could
have seen it could have trusted him and
what if that relationship the one I’d
wanted to become my marriage had not
been interrupted like it was looking
back at it now I can see God’s hand
involved in turning me away from one man
and turning my heart toward another it
takes a certain kind of guy to handle
the life that our marriage in ministry
require had the first man decided to
marry me who knows we might have been
happy together but I’m sure now that he
wasn’t the one I really needed he wasn’t
tailored for me like Jarius ideal for
what God knew would be required of a
husband in a situation like ours
apart from accepting Christ as my savior
Jerry is the best decision I’ve ever
made
or better yet like my 17-year olds said
to me the other night daddy is the best
decision God ever made for you but I’m
telling you it was hard at the time I
didn’t want any piece of God’s will that
didn’t include this other man in it
and yet the wounds he’d left behind made
me appreciate all the more the healing
selves of Jerry’s perfectly suited
kindness and love for me I fell head
over heels into the romance of a
lifetime how I thank the Lord now for
unanswered prayers interruptions are
often his way of doing something even
better I wish I’d known that earlier
perhaps Jonah might have wished that too
he was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom
of Israel during the early part of the
eighth century BC and while we don’t
know much about his life prior to the
events recorded in the book that bears
his name we
dunno from 2nd Kings chapter 14 verse 25
the he had foretold some positive
developments for his people the Hebrews
during the reign of King Jeroboam ii the
nation witnessed a restoration of
territories that have been taken by
Syria this allowed Israel to achieve its
most prosperous era since Solomon
primarily allowing them to control most
of the important trade routes that ran
through Palestine connecting the far
reaches of the ancient world and Jonah
was the Prophet who had seen this coming
he had heard from the Lord declared the
details and been proven right
when these welcome events came to
fruition most likely therefore he was
popular highly respected and greatly
appreciated in his role handsomely paid
as well for the stature he enjoyed he
was living a prophets dream and he was
more than content for things to keep on
going the way they’d always gone the way
he had planned and fully expected they
would he was living for God doing his
work and doing it well why would God
ever send him to do something else if
only he’d known and yet Jonah great
prophet that he was couldn’t see any
more clearly than we usually can when we
try to understand why God would be
causing or allowing this interruption to
happen to us right now when the only
thing it’s doing is making us feel
frustrated and put out it’s the last
thing we want or seem to need and yet
God has let it happen anyway so I could
relate to Jonah as i sat there pregnant
with our unexpected third son and with
new required tasks in our ministry
reading again a story so familiar yet
one that God was opening to my eyes in a
fresh new way as I pondered what to do
with my resistant heart in its stubborn
streak I knew how it felt as Jonah did
to experience a clear word from God and
want to run in the opposite direction I
knew what it was like to watch
circumstances maneuvering around me in
such a way that God’s hand was
obviously on them drawing me to come
along asking me to trust him enough to
cooperate with his purposes but I also
knew the desire to rebel I knew what
goes through a person’s mind who was not
wanting to engage fully in the season of
life God is calling her into running
from God fighting against God’s clear
will Jonah certainly did in fact he was
the only prophet in the whole Bible who
ever did it’s always been easy to judge
him or look down on him one of the bad
boys of the Old Testament well it’s not
that simple for me looking down is hard
to do when you’re so near the bottom
yourself when emotionally you’ve got one
foot out the door and one hand on the
steering wheel was I going to let my
interruptions do to me what Jonah let
his do to him what will it be next
that’s the dilemma that brought me here
to this book to you wherever you happen
to be very personal stuff a very real
life just like yours I know we can
relate to what each other is dealing
with I know we share a common language
when it comes to understanding what
interruptions look like feel like sound
like scaris like bug is like we’ve all
had our lives altered and redirected
along the way we’ve all seen our plan
aids take a backseat to other realities
realities we just don’t want to accept
or live through yet here they are this
is our life we can run but we can’t hide
knowing what we know about God we do our
best to accept the fact that we wouldn’t
be having to put up with this stuff
right now if he didn’t want us to if he
wasn’t allowing it to happen for some
reason but that doesn’t always make it a
whole lot easier to handle does it I may
feel upbeat enough to follow along on
some day
but on others I’m ready to head for the
hills or perhaps just sit down and give
up we’ve all been Jonah before haven’t
we we’ve gotten irritated we’ve wanted
to duck out we’ve wished God would go
pick on someone else for a change so
something important is still missing
inside something is keeping us from
living out what we say we believe about
him that we can trust him even when we
don’t understand that he won’t lead us
astray that his will is more important
than ours
why do we still run from him and his
plans well I was hoping maybe we could
learn together the same way I learned
when God sat me down with Jonah when I
looked up from the middle of my life
interrupted and saw some things I wished
I’d known a long time ago I’m not all
the way there yet you understand but I
know I don’t want to let one more
interruption send me off frantically
dodging God’s will and missing out on
what he’s wanting to accomplish in me
and through me I want my life to radiate
what happens when God has a person’s
heart at his full control when every
event or circumstance is simply another
avenue to know him better in show forth
his glory that’s what the Book of Jonah
is really about it’s not just about the
big fish not just Jonah and the Whale
the main character in Jonah’s story is
God every single chapter in fact every
single verse speaks of the grandeur of
God the grace of God the sovereignty of
God the beckoning of God the discipline
of God everywhere you look in this tiny
piece of ancient historical literature
God is there he’s always there he is
right in the middle of every
interruption so if you’re feeling the
pinch of the interrupted life guess what
God is right here in the middle of
yours too even if it’s something you’ve
sort of brought on yourself as many of
mine have been this interruption
whatever it is no matter how big or
small represent your best chance to see
him take center stage to show you what
he can do when the unexpected only makes
you more expectant than ever like you
I’ve run from change I’ve run from
life’s surprises some times I’ve run
just to keep moving when I didn’t know
what else to do when I’ve run into a
problem because in running toward what
else I thought was better safer more
pleasurable more fulfilling less painful
less complicated or less confining
I’ve actually been running from God from
his will and from his blessing and I’m
tired of running aren’t you what if we
knew this interrupted life was less
about the problem and more about the
process what if we knew this roadblock
or aggravation hadn’t caught God by
surprise
even if it’s come as a shock to us what
if we knew that the direction he was
taking us provided opportunities we’d
always dreamed about even if they didn’t
look exactly the way we thought they
would what if we knew by not getting
what we want
God was ultimately giving us something
better I think we can know and live like
we know in Jonah’s place is a good place
to go to find out how