GOD MOMENTS

O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt Thee,
I will praise Thy name; for Thou hast done
wonderful things; Thy counsels of old are
faithfulness and truth.
Isaiah 25:1

It was about six years ago, that an object I came across reminded me of the beginning of God moments in my very young life. I didn't recognize them as such, but still had special moments of meaning even when quite young. In my hometown of West Frankfort, Illinois is a wonderful historical museum located in a former grade school. It has a wonderful tea room in the basement of the school in the exact place where I attended a pre-school program prior to entering kindergarten. Down there is also a meeting room, but the various rooms upstairs are given over to different themes that have to do with those things that made our community the great and unique place it was and is.

After having lunch with my sister Kay in the tea room, we roamed through the different upstairs rooms. I got stuck in the school room and just couldn't seem to pull myself away. It was a room set up like the old school rooms I had known with desks, chalk board, all the décor that went with making an elementary school room homey. There were bookcases with various school texts from most of those elementary years. I drooled over a couple of them wanting those copies for myself, but happy they were there for people like me as reminders of those by-gone days.

One of the items in that room that had been salvaged from my first grade classroom was a special round table. It was probably in its day an old dining room table but had been cut down and lowered to accommodate small six year old legs. Miss Irene, my first grade teacher, had this table in her classroom, painted a bright red. It sat in her room with seven or eight small chairs around it. In the middle of the low table were several grade-appropriate books. It was a treat to get to go to the red reading table. That same table now sits in the museum, but someone painted it a light green color. I still would have recognized it. I can still almost feel the thrill when I would hear, “Glendarae, you may go to the reading table.” Time at the table was only for a few minutes, but what a thrill it was to walk to that table and sit in one of those chairs I always felt like I had “arrived.”

It was a privilege to get to go to the red table to read a book. It was a treat that was earned, not given to any student because of their name, parents rank in the community, cute or nicest dressed. If you had done your work and done well in a reading circle or reciting from word cards, you were told when you could go to that table. When I got to go to it, I felt ten feet tall, like I had grabbed the brass ring while on the merry-go-round.

All of us have had what I call “God moments” that loom huge in our lives....first job, first car, engagement, unexpected contact with an old friend, a gift out of seemingly no where, God's special healing touch during a long illness and on and on the list could go. Many such moments have to do with things we can't even see...answer to prayer, a compliment from another, moments of peace that overtake us or just the sensing of God's presence in a special way. I realize that many special things can occur in the lives of unsaved folks, but as a Christian, all of those things have been special touches in my life from God Himself.

I'm thinking of folks in the Bible who knew God moments in their lives. We read of these things but almost gloss over them as if they are expected. After all, the following folks are in the Bible. However, they were all just as human as you and me. They were not more or less important to God than you and me. For instance:

Daniel knew special moments with God but especially in that lion's den.
Moses traveled up a mount to meet God and to receive God's commandments
Esther was selected for the special purpose of saving her people.
Disciples were chosen by Jesus for ministry, each one having their special moment.
Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus.
The Samaritan woman had her moment at a well with Jesus Himself...what a moment.

All of us are probably negligent at times of not giving God credit for so many wonderful happenings in our lives. I have a friend in Texas who is raising some baby ducks in her back yard. I see those pictures and see her delight at this wonderful phenomenon of nature. That can be a real God moment. Sounds like a little thing, I know, but I don't think it is for her.

So often I find God meeting me in the most unusual and unexpected ways that are such blessings. I've come to know them as God moments and am sure you have those as well. I'm encouraging us to watch for those things God does in our lives that are so special and above the ordinary and to even share some of them with other Christian friends who will be encouraged by your testimony. Everything God does in our lives is special, but every now and then, He gives something beyond the usual, as special as getting to go to the reading table.

The day will come when we as Christians will be called to another table, that being the table where the marriage supper of the Lamb will be held. That will far outshine Miss Irene's bright red reading table. It will also far surpass the emotions as that little six year old girl felt in those moments as she sat down to read.

And He saith unto me, Write,
Blessed are they which are called unto
the marriage supper of the Lamb....
Revelation 19:9a

Dear Father...Thank You for all of those special moments You reveal Yourself to us in so many special ways that bless and encourage us. Thank You for Jesus Who bears that name above all names in Whose name I pray....Amen