For the next quarter at work, my small department plans to conduct an experiment. Since our jobs are often reactive in nature, we tend to handle individual tasks upon notification of assignment, prompting frequent interruptions. Research indicates it’s inefficient to switch one’s attention between tasks, and with requests coming from multiple higher-ups, it gets stressful and creates a lack of focus. In contrast, a technique called task batching involves grouping similar tasks together and setting aside specific blocks of time on the daily calendar to handle them in batches. Numerous business books confirm increased efficiency, decreased stress, and greater productivity in following this approach to task management. I look forward to these outcomes as I adopt this practice at work.
Jesus, however, could not “batch” the many requests He received. He never announced, “I heal the sick from 8:00-10:00, cast out demons from 10:00 to noon, take a lunch break (and feed multitudes, if necessary) from noon to 2:00, and teach from 2:00-5:00. Then after a private dinner with my disciples, I spend time in solitude to pray.” Nope! He was “on call” almost daily.
For example, Matthew 9, Mark 5, and Luke 8 all describe a day when, just after disembarking from a boat, Jesus was surrounded by a crowd. Jairus, a synagogue official, emerged from the crowd and fell at Jesus’s feet, full of faith and pleading for Jesus to heal his daughter. Task #1 assigned.
As He walked to Jairus’s home, surrounded by those eager to see a miracle first hand, Jesus noticed something—an “interruption” or a new task being assigned. He stopped and asked who had touched Him. The disciples thought this an odd question, considering the crowd jostling Him. But we soon discover the touch had come from a woman in dire circumstances—physical, financial, and emotional. Having spent all she had on physicians who only made her condition worse, she simply touched the fringe of Jesus’s garment to stop twelve years of hemorrhaging. Lovingly, He announced her healing on the basis of her faith. Jesus allowed her unspoken request to interrupt His completion of the first request.
I find two points of interest here. First, Jesus neither ignored the woman’s presence because He was already focused on the first request, nor did He get flustered and forget about Jairus. Secondly, when Jesus asked who had touched Him, everyone started denying it! Why? Because they didn’t understand His true nature. They assumed this interruption would anger Him! But He wasn’t angry; Jesus was curious! He wanted to know who had touched Him with such faith, not so He could berate her, but so He could commend and heal her. He was available and welcomed this new assignment!
And amazingly, although Jairus’s daughter actually died during that unexpected delay, Jesus still went to Jairus’s house and raised the girl from the dead! That’s the Father’s heart. We never need to feel like we’re interrupting Him with a need or request! His schedule is never too busy and His calendar never too full to hear us and meet us at our point of faith.
Thank you, Carrie. It made me think about the selflessness required to be willing to drop one’s “task-du-jour” to help another in need, and how much such an act can communicate care and love to that person.