Interrupted Groove

Do you ever feel like Emperor Kuzco? What's that? Who's Emperor Kuzco? Why, he's the self-absorbed young ruler with a groove in The Emperor's New Groove!

In an early scene, one of Kuzco's subjects comes to him for help and inadvertently throws off Kuzco's groove. The subject is abruptly thrown out the window, song and dance resume, and Kuzco's world seems right again.

But, it's not.

In fact, the young emperor's life is about to change completely, teaching him a few things in the process.

Okay, so we might not be self-absorbed in the heartless manner of Kuzco, but we get so caught up in our groove that we do tend to be pretty self-centered - and pretty irritated when it gets thrown off.

We get in our own "groove" - our routine. We like the way everything is flowing along. It might not be perfect, but it's working. We like it just the way it is.

Then something throws a kink in it all. Something throws off our groove.

Maybe it's a sick child, a few out-of-the-ordinary appointments, or a holiday weekend. Maybe it's an unexpected hour-long phone call that is so precious but throws the tightly packed schedule of the whole week into a tailspin. Maybe it's the unexpected need to provide a meal or contribute to a potluck when you have just what you need on hand for the exact meals you have planned for the week - and no more.

Whatever it is, your groove is thrown.

Maybe, as in the case of the above examples, it is temporary and will just take a few days to work it all out again. But, maybe it's a more permanent change.

Maybe your schedule just doesn't work anymore.

Maybe someone new has come to live with you.

Maybe you are moving.

Maybe you are adding a new responsibility.

Permanent or temporary, big or small, groove interruptions are tough to deal with.

But, if we are children of God, walking in His path, they are worth it! Why? Because if we are being sensitive to Him, the wrench in our works is His way of making us that much more into His likeness.

Remember Kuzco? His royal adviser tried to poison him to death, but ended up turning him into a llama instead. In his quest to be restored to his appropriate human form, he develops a friendship with a peasant whose home he originally intended to take for his own pleasures. Once he is finally human again and restored to his throne, he is a greatly changed ruler. He is benevolent and kind - and he has friends whom he loves and is loved by in return.

He has a new groove.

When our groove is interrupted - even in the most unpleasant of ways - we must keep our eyes open and on the Lord. We must not insist on getting right back into the same old groove. It just might be that He has a much better groove in store for us - we just have to hang on for the ride while it is being created!