Moments

And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus....(Luke 5:11)

Last year my husband lost his cousin, best friend and mentor in a single moment. A split second of time took one life and changed countless others when two people tragically crossed paths.

In the days, weeks, and months that followed, we marveled over and over at how many different lives could be so dramatically impacted in a single moment of time.

So many lives were changed forever.

As I continued reading in the New Testament this week, I was struck by the different moments that left people changed.

John the Baptist became a prisoner of man in his service to God. The people of Zebulan and Naphtali saw a great light. The entire household of a government official believed in Jesus. And Peter, Andrew, James and John left everything they knew to follow Christ.

So many lives were changed in a series of brief moments.

When John the Baptist told his disciples that he must become less and Jesus must become more, I somehow doubt that prison was what he had in mind for his lesser journey.

When he was arrested, I wonder if he questioned God, as I have so often done in the difficult moments of my life. I wonder if his faith faltered just a little bit. Knowing that from his prison cell, he sent men to ask Christ if he truly was the Messiah, after he, himself, had earlier proclaimed it, makes me think it did....at least a little.

Circumstances that we just don't understand have a way of making us question things we already know and believe. Moments that bring sorrow, confusion, and pain have a way of making us question our faith.

But I've learned the same lesson I'm sure John the Baptist learned inside the confines of his cell. When our broken heart doesn't understand and we ask God WHY with a pure heart of faltering faith, that question is not a sign of disrespect or unbelief, but it is an open invitation for Him to speak personally to us -- to gift us with a more complete faith based on an intimate relationship with Him.

In the prison cells of our lives -- in the moments of darkness brought on by grief and pain that we cannot begin to understand -- faith is tested. And if we come out the other side with our faith intact, we are changed for it. We become more faithful and more faith-full.

We become more like Christ -- willing to follow where ever God leads us. Into darkness, into light, and, even into the sometimes obscure places where we become God's light.

Jesus followed into the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali after John the Baptist was imprisoned by Herod. Scripture is lacking in details about His brief stroll beyond the Jordan River, but it was prophesied by Isaiah and recorded by Matthew for a reason.

Maybe a Bible scholar could explain why it was important for Jesus to travel into the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali and shine His light there for the people who sat in darkness. I can't. But what I do recognize in this portion of scripture is that there was significance in this seemingly insignificant stroll beyond the Jordan River.

It was meaningful to God. It was significant to His plan. I may not understand it, but God does.

There are so many moments in my life like this. Detours I don't expect or understand. Journeys that make little, or no, sense to me. Moments that seem insignificant.

But what I'm learning about God as I mature in years and faith is that every moment of my life has significance. Every breath has purpose. Every split second of my life is a part of His magnificent plan.

I can choose to make the monotonous moments of motherhood meaningful....or mundane. I can choose to make continual chores a time of self-pity....or a time of prayer and praise.

I can choose to shine in the seemingly insignificant moments of my life, or I can fade into the darkness around me unchanged by my faith.

Lord, help me to choose each moment to shine.

And then there are moments in our lives, where God shines brilliantly, and the glory of His presence brings an overwhelming faith to us.

Like the moment when Jesus told the government official that his son would live though he had been about to die only moments before. The miracle that inspired his entire household to believe happened the moment Jesus spoke to him -- the moment his son's life was changed.

Moments like these build our faith, so that we can walk through the rising tides in the difficult moments of life.

Moments when we hear God speak personally to us. When we see Him move in our lives in miraculous ways. When belief and faith come easily, because Jesus is so obviously present in the moment.

I've experienced plenty of these moments, but I'm always amazed at how quickly I seem to forget about them when trials come or when routine takes over my days.

Lord help me to remember the moments of Your glory in my life.

When Jesus taught the crowd on Simon Peter's boat and then performed a miracle -- calling an abundance of fish out of an empty sea -- Peter, Andrew, James and John were changed in a moment.

They were awestruck and amazed by God, and scripture says they left everything and followed Jesus.

It's easy to be awestruck by the miracles of God in the moments they occur. It's easy to be amazed when He shows up in an undeniable moment of glory.

But, in order to leave everything and follow Jesus, we must learn to carry these moments with us, in our hearts and in our minds, as life preservers of faith that we can hold onto when the tides of tragedy, the endless waves of routine, and all the other difficult moments of life threaten to overwhelm us.

Jesus promised that when we followed Him, there would be difficult moments, and I, for one, can testify to that fact. 

But, looking back, over the difficult moments of my life, I can see that those are the ones that changed me the most, because those are the moments that I had to choose to grab onto my faith with both hands.

From this perspective I can see that God has used the difficult moments to draw me closer to Him in ways I would never have chosen, but can see by faith are for His glory and His plan.

These are the moments that have taught me to look toward heaven in a different  kind of light.

These are the moments that have changed my heart and my life.

These are the moments that I have unwrapped the gift of faith for myself.

(Journey: Luke 3:19-23, 5:1-11; Matthew 4:12-22; Mark 1:14-20; John 4:46-54)