Divine Disruption: When God Disrupts

Many of us begin our lives following a pre-set path, governed by standards the world has already laid out for us. From the moment we are young, we are guided by the voices around us and shaped by expectations until we find ourselves living out these worldly patterns without even realizing it.

We grow up following a script we did not write, subconsciously stepping into roles that were prepared for us long before we arrived. We have normalized these standards so deeply that we rarely find the time to pause and ask the real questions that truly matter: Are these the principles the Lord actually designed for us, or are we just living out a standard we were conditioned to follow?

Oftentimes, these inherited standards act as blinders, preventing us from seeing the destiny the Lord established for us before time began. We become so focused on fitting into the box that society has prepared for us—that orderly, step-by-step checklist of academic achievement, climbing the professional ladder, getting married, raising kids, and eventually fading into a quiet retirement. 

We get so caught up in fulfilling this socially accepted timeline that we forget we were called to be an exception to the norm. We have to really ask ourselves: Is there more to our existence than these conventional expectations we have settled for, simply because they were the only path we were shown?

Arriving at this stage of questioning is frequently the beginning of God's divine disruptions. These disruptions often begin in our minds, prompting us to question what seemed to be working for us and to truly inquire if there is more. I refer to this as the awakening phase, where the blinders are removed, allowing you to see life in a different, unusual way.

I consider divine disruptions to be acts of mercy. It is God's love that intervenes when He notices us veering off track. A prayer I have consistently offered to the Lord is the prayer of redirection. We often ask for direction but rarely do we ask for redirection.

We tend to fear this because redirection feels like starting over. It's akin to constructing a house only to be told you must tear it down and begin again—perhaps due to a faulty foundation. In such moments, most people focus solely on the time, money, and effort they have "wasted." They rarely pause to understand why the demolition was necessary.

We behave similarly in our lives, holding on tightly to the structures we have built for ourselves, making it difficult to let go and begin again on God's terms.

Looking through the Bible, we also see that the concept of divine disruptions is not new. Characters like David, Mary, Paul, Moses, and the disciples all shared this one thing: their lives were disrupted. The futures they carved out with their own wisdom were brought to nothing the moment God rerouted their path. He interrupted them exactly when they were succeeding at the wrong thing.

Right at their working post, Christ called to the disciples: "Follow me" (Matthew 4:18-22). For Paul, he was at the peak of his "success" persecuting the church, when the disruption came mid-journey, giving him a new mandate (Acts 9:3-6). Mary was preparing for her marriage until an angel redirected her future to bear the Messiah (Luke 1:26-38). David, faithfully tending to his father's sheep, was summoned from the sheepfold to the throne (1 Samuel 16:11-13). Similarly, Moses, who had built a wall of safety between himself and his past, had his life disrupted when God instructed him to return to the very land he had fled. (Exodus 3:1-10).

When we attempt to pursue our own paths, there seems to be an unrest within us. This inner restlessness only subsides when we finally surrender to the disruptions of God. When we yield to His pathway—much like the disciples dropping their nets or Paul surrendering on the road to Damascus—instead of restlessness, we begin to feel a push. A push to step into purpose, to align, and to act upon instructions. To take mighty steps that would usually look impossible, like Moses returning to face Pharaoh. This is the difference between yielding to God's disruptions and yielding to your own plans.

We are in a season where God is actively disrupting lives to redirect us back to His initial plan. The move of God in this season is like the days of Abraham and Noah. God is disrupting familiar patterns we have relied on for way too long. He is bringing us out of "life as usual" and reintroducing us into the unusual. The disruptions God is causing are merely the birthing room for the new things He is bringing forth. However, we must be willing to yield.

When we allow our plans to be disrupted and His purpose to be established, we finally move into the position where we can truly reflect His glory. We are called to be Mirrors of Christ, but a mirror can only reflect what it is facing. If we are facing our own plans, we reflect ourselves. But when we yield to His redirection and turn toward His path, we begin to reflect Him with clarity to a world that needs to see Him.