Seizing Our Divine Moments

What do you expect out of life today?  What do you expect out of life tomorrow?  Are your expectations of tomorrow much greater than your expectations of today?  When we face difficulties today, we know God will make tomorrow better.  But, how often do we miss divine opportunities today because we believe God is going to do something great tomorrow?   How often do we miss today’s miracle because we have no expectation of it until tomorrow? 

In 1 Samuel 13:22-14:23 Saul and the children of Israel were facing extremely difficult circumstances.   The Philistines had gathered against them and the entire nation of Israel had only two swords to fight them with.  Saul, with his fears of today and his 600 men, sat under a pomegranate tree and waited.  However, Jonathan in the same moment and with the same obstacles seized his divine opportunity.

Both men had the authority of God.  Both could do something about the situation with the same promise of God. Only one did.  

In this story we find four characteristics common in those who seize their divine moments.   First, Jonathan knew he had to act today.   Waiting under a tree would not cause the Philistine garrison to go away.  People, who seize their divine moments are people of action, they go unless they get a no.  

Second, Jonathan did not seek advice from those unwilling to act.  He did not tell his father what he was going to do, and the people did not know Jonathan was gone.  People who are unwilling to act are usually quick to tell us why we should not act.   

Third, Jonathan acted in spite of uncertainty.    He did not know victory was certain before he took action.  Jonathan was not paralyzed by thoughts of failure. He told his armor bearer, “It may be that the Lord will work for us.”  Even men of great faith will sometimes fail because each great opportunity to succeed always has the potential for failure.  People, who seize their divine moments, are accustomed to acting even when surrounded with uncertainty. 

  

Fourth, Jonathan realized divine moments don’t often appear to be divine.  The key to winning this battle was not Jonathan’s strength, but God’s.  He reminded himself and his armor bearer, “For there is nothing to prevent the Lord from saving by many or by few.”     

Jonathan’s effort ensured the Philistines defeat.  

Examples of situations with plenty of opportunity for failure are found throughout the Bible.:  1)  Naaman was angry because he was asked to wash in the dirty Jordan River.  He also thought the man of God would put on a show for him.  However, thanks to good advice from a servant Naaman did what he was told and got his miracle.  2)  The disciples had fished all night, and caught nothing.   Then Jesus told them to launch out into the deep.  To the experienced fisherman this was the wrong place to be fishing, but, they got their large catch when they acted on the word of Jesus.  3)  In John 6:9 Jesus was going to feed the multitude, but their supply looked very inadequate.  Andrew said “There is a lad here, which has five barley loaves, and two small fish:  but what are they among so many?”  When given to God their need was supplied with twelve baskets left over.  These are but few of many situations where failure looked inevitable, but when action was taken in spite of that fear, the divine moment was seized. 

The following quote from Love Beyond Reason by John Ortberg explains our need to pursue our God given dreams even when the circumstances are not very divine:

We talk much in our day about safe places, because our world seems so unsafe.  Catastrophes and violence and disease blanket the earth.  And yet this is the discovery that gets made over and over in the Scriptures.  Lions’ dens and fiery furnaces, Pharaoh’s prison and the floor of the Red Sea, a battered little boat in the midst of a violent storm – all seemed to be the most dangerous, but turned out to be the safest places of all.

It really is true – our universe is a perfectly safe place for us to be.  Not because bad things won’t happen in it, but because as Paul put it, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?...

In any situation, good or bad, we should seize the opportunity and find God in that moment.  We must stop viewing circumstances of today as a curse, and start seeing every difficulty we face as an opportunity for God to show Himself strong on our behalf.  Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (2 Cor 6:2b NKJV)