Momentary Affliction. The day started out as a “normal” day. The sun began to rise to its appointed place in the sky, God in his graciousness and faithfulness has brought forth a new day yet again. Like clockwork, either you stretched and opened your eyes long enough to hit the snooze button or you hopped right out of bed ready to seize the day. Maybe you looked up at the ceiling wishing for five more minutes of sleep or maybe you ran through the exhausting list of things you had to do that day. Whatever the case may be, you started your day as usual. Got up, washed your face, put on clothes and emerged from your sleeping place to greet the new day. If you are a planner, you knew exactly where you were going to be from hour to hour and what activities you hoped to accomplish within those waking hours. If you are less inclined to make a to-do list maybe you just welcomed the chaos of the day, bouncing from one task to another as you felt inclined. Whatever the case may be, this was just another normal day. Nothing extraordinarily special, just another day. It’s funny how things can change in a split second. How one unplanned moment has the ability to change the trajectory of our whole entire day and sometimes, our whole entire lives.
I would like to believe that no one plans for tragedy. No one plans for sickness or divorce, no one plans to get in arguments with their best friends or family. We usually plan for good things, happy things. When we envision our future it is most always bright – that is until we are slapped in the face with the unexpected. Life, as beautiful as it is, has a way of putting us on paths we never imagined we’d have to travel. And usually it is something that happens in a moment. The moment you got the news you couldn’t have a baby, the moment you found out a loved one is terminally ill, the moment you got into a terrible accident, the moment someone assaulted your character or when you got a pink slip at your job. Moments. I could easily flip the script and focus on the happy moments. The moment you got the proposal you were eagerly anticipating, the moment you found out you were pregnant, the moment you got approved for your first mortgage, the moment you found out you were getting a pay raise. Hallelujah!!! There are most certainly plenty of happy moments in our lives, thank you Jesus! Moments don’t last long and neither do the feelings that are associated with them, but the thoughts or beliefs that are linked to these life changing moments can change our destiny. The moment in and of itself does not define us or even determine our future, what we conclude afterwards is what determines our destiny. Moments morph into memories and those memories lead to beliefs and those beliefs lead to actions which lead us to our destiny.
Think of some of your life changing moments. As they come to remembrance does anything stand out in particular? Did you formulate an idea that was contrary to the absolute goodness of God? Have you allowed a moment to define you or what you believe about God? If that is the case, you may have partnered with the enemy. The enemy wants you to believe you aren’t valuable, that you don’t deserve good things in your life, he wants you to believe that God doesn’t really care or love you. But my friend, that is sooooo far from the truth. Ask God, where were you in that moment? If you allow your heart to be open to hear from him, I can assure you, He was there. He cried when you cried, he was rooting for you when no one else was. Friend, don’t let a moment in time define your whole entire life. Be open to what God is doing. He is doing a new thing. He has plans for your future. He wants you to have hope. He wants you to dream again. God is sovereign, there is nothing that is too hard for him. Let one moment in time, be one moment in time. But know that God of the universe is greater than any moment you have ever experienced. Trust in him and he will take you from moment to moment, grace to grace and glory to glory. The best is yet to come!!