I had a tight schedule, so I decided to log into an online meeting near the office of my next meeting. I sat in a small booth in a public space. A young man came and asked if he could join me. I was annoyed. I didn’t want to share. I let him know that I would be logging into a meeting, but he could sit with me if he wanted.
Did I mention this was a small booth. He was not small. He stepped on my foot getting into the booth. I pulled my feet in tight. Then he kicked my foot. His feet were on my side of the booth. He was unaware that he was kicking me. I was annoyed.
When I tripped over his foot while trying to get out of the booth, I apologized. He said it was no problem with still no awareness of his invasion of my space.
I have experienced many annoyances over the years. I typically brush them off and keep going, but what if I’m missing God’s attempt to get my attention?
8-9 God called again, “Samuel!”—the third time! Yet again Samuel got up and went to Eli, “Yes? I heard you call me. Here I am.” That’s when it dawned on Eli that God was calling the boy. So Eli directed Samuel, “Go back and lie down. If the voice calls again, say, ‘Speak, God. I’m your servant, ready to listen.’” Samuel returned to his bed.10 Then God came and stood before him exactly as before, calling out, “Samuel! Samuel!” Samuel answered, “Speak. I’m your servant, ready to listen.” (1 Samuel 3:8-10 MSG).
Being awakened in the middle of the night guarantees I will be annoyed. God had to wake Samuel four times to get an appropriate response. I think both Samuel and Eli were annoyed by this.
This all makes me wonder if I am missing God’s attempts to wake me up to something. Should I be saying, “I am your servant, ready to listen,” instead of thinking, ”Get out of my space?” There are lots of ways for God to get our attention. It may be that when I’m annoyed it may be the most important time for me to listen, to pray, to pay attention.
What do you do when you are annoyed? Do you consider it is God trying to get your attention? Share your experience here and breathe life and bring hope to others.