I got to have one of those last Sunday when I baptized my daughter. Truthfully, there's an incredible amount of difficult things you get to deal with as a pastor, but there are also some unbelievable blessings that come your way. For me, some of these have come in the form of getting to baptize all three of my children. Has each one fully "gotten it" as they were dunked? Probably not - no more than I did as a boy. But they certainly knew what they were doing, and in choosing to enter into this moment, they gave me the opportunity to create a bit of eternity with them and make it rare - for nothing will ever take from us that shared moment of faith & trust!
I must say that this moment was quite unlike most of the rare moments I've experienced in my life, for I knew it was coming. Quite the opposite, the vast majority of the rare moments in my life have occurred totally unannounced. Just "Bang!" there it was - incredibly special and gone forever except for the imprint it made on my heart and mind.
I can't help but wonder how I'd live each of my days differently if I always knew when the rare moments were coming. Think about it: If I told you that tomorrow you were going to change someone's life forever through what appeared to be a random encounter, wouldn't you approach the day a bit differently? I believe you'd find yourself slowing down and paying more attention to each person, each event, each moment, knowing that the next one could be THE one I told you about.
But we almost never get that luxury, which means that we need to take Scripture at face value, slow down and make the most of every moment, because it might indeed become one of those rare moments if we give it a chance. Unfortunately, most of us (myself included) are moving way too fast to ever find out. I can't help but wonder how many potentially rare moments I've squandered along the way?
Author Erwin McManus points out that the word "moment" is derived from the same Latin root which gives us "atomic." History documents quite well the power that lies within an atom. And the two can be quite similar:
- They're all around us
- They're almost always invisible until "broken open"
- They're both full of unbelievable power when seized
I've found this out from personal experience (and you probably have, too). You know, when you've stopped to give something or someone a little extra time, care or attention, and that moment has become something you could have never imagined. I believe that this potential lies within each and every moment that's seized for Christ. Not to advance my own agenda, popularity or wealth...but to advance Him.
Thus, I have a challenge for you (as God challenges me): Focus on the moments in your life. You know, all the ones that appear to be quite mundane and ordinary. The people you'd usually pass by, the opportunities you'd usually ignore and the time you'd usually waste. Grab onto one or more of them, for the sake of Christ, and see what happens. They won't all become miraculous, life-changing, rare events (because life has a lot of ordinary moments, too), but I believe you'll be amazed at how many of them become something more than you'd have ever imagined.
Just a note: You can count on this one, because God has promised it. Check out 1 Corinthians 2:9 if you want to see for yourself. Start enjoying more rare moments and missing fewer of them...I'd love to hear about them! (And if you'd like to read some more on this idea, give some moments to Erwin McManus' book, "Chasing Daylight.")
