Moments that Matter
by Tiffani Long
January sits on the calendar all shiny and new–so much promise and hope of things to come!
With a new year beginning, some of us are already excited for moments ahead–perhaps a significant birthday or anniversary (twenty years for me and my love!), a birth for you or someone you know, a wedding…those will be defining moments, for sure. The expected and unexpected joys are guaranteed, but what do we do when 2018 throws us a curve ball? Those moments will define us, as well.
I remember the year I had a miscarriage…I remember the year our youngest was six and almost drowned…I remember when my husband was without a job for almost an entire year.
All curve balls. All unexpected, but those moments mattered. Every one of them needed to happen for us to grow and for God to receive glory. Sure, there were TONS of moments in those same years that were peaks, but the valleys are the times when I most readily recall how I grew in my faith because…
I also remember how deeply I dug into the Word for comfort, how I was challenged to let go of my fear and how God used (and still uses) that time for me to comfort others in years to come.
I also remember feeling so humbled and grateful that what could’ve easily been a freak tragedy was stopped when my husband reached into the water with Divine Guidance and grabbed our daughter.
I also remember how our church, friends, and family upheld and helped us by being the Hands and Feet of Jesus in our time of need. We had faced one of the things we were most terrified of happening, and yet we had an abundance of provision.
So, how can we be sure in the unexpected, defining moments of 2018 that our faith will be strong? Just as an athlete doesn’t go out to the field on game day having not conditioned or practiced his or her sport. Days upon days and hours upon hours in advance they prepare. That same principle applies to us as believers. We daily fill ourselves with gospel truth by reading the Word. We daily talk with our Heavenly Father. We share our joys and lives with fellow sisters in Christ. We write scripture on cards and on our hearts so that we can readily recall it in a moment of need. We attend church where we are taught sound theology and doctrine. The moments of walking with Jesus when days are easy matter the most because WHEN days of unexpected challenges come, they will define us in the best way possible—proving the roots we’ve so firmly planted on sunny days will hold firm during the storm.
Another great assurance we have is this:
“….Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:31-32
Our Lord is praying for us!! He is praying specifically that our faith will not fail, and not only that, but that we will USE what we’ve been through to help strengthen others! What a friend we have in Jesus, y’all. We can’t know all the moments in 2018 that will bring great joy and great challenge, but what we do know is that every moment will matter and that God will be good in both.
