Hit Pause

I like routine. I like order. Slowly, but surely, my schedule is filling back up. I have so many responsibilities that I manage. I know that life has a tendency to present obstacles, so I put some padding in my schedule. I wake up earlier on some days to squeeze it all in. But even with that padding…even with the shuffling…I cannot anticipate every shake-up. Neither could Paul. I have dawdled long enough. Let me dig into the sermon recap.

Sunday’s sermon finds us back in Acts 20:7-12. Last Sunday, we learned of Eutychus. He went to hear Paul preaching. Eutychus was sitting in the window and at some point fell asleep and fell three stories down to his death. Last week sermon’s focused on the plight of Eutychus. This Sunday’s focus shifts to Paul’s response to this unusual interruption.

Paul was walking in purpose before Eutychus fell from the window. He was in Troas on assignment. He had plans to leave the next day. With that in mind, he preached late into the midnight hour. As day moved to night, lamps were lit throughout the upper room. Paul continued to preach. He was on a mission. He was fulfilling his purpose. And then…well Eutychus’s fall made Paul hit pause. Not on his assignment. Not on his purpose. He hit pause on his preaching point and joined those who had gone down three floors to check on Eutychus.

Eutychus’s lifeless body had already been picked up by someone else. Likely someone who had been in the upper room listening to Paul’s preaching. Paul fell on Eutychus, embraced him, and then addressed the crowd. Not Eutychus. The crowd. He told them that there was life in him. And Eutychus came back to life. While Paul’s preaching point in the upper room had been put on pause, his purpose and his assignment continued to play out in real life. His plans had been altered but his purpose had not.

How do you respond when life puts your plans on pause? A crowd of believers surrounded Eutychus. A crowd that had been listening to Paul’s message yet nothing changed for Eutychus until Paul arrived. Paul responded to the pause by continuing in purpose. His obedience literally brought life to a dead situation. Who is waiting for you to keep pushing through your pause? Who is waiting for you to be life in their dead situation? I encourage you to make deposits in the lives of others when your plans go awry. There is a whole world waiting for you. #wepreach