At That Very Moment

"...at that very moment..."

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"Jesus gave a command to the demon, and it went out of the boy, and at that very moment he was healed."
(Matthew 17:18)

On Father's Day I visited a friend's outdoor model train layout open house. I took a lot of photos and happened to catch this soap bubble that one of the toy trains was popping out as it moved around the track. The bubble lived barely long enough for me to snap this photo. Such beauty, but just for a moment...

A moment is not a very long measure of time, but string a few moments together and we get a minute. Put a few more moments together and we have an hour, a few more and we make a day, then keep going until finally a lot of moments linked end on end give us a lifetime.Obviously, lifetimes vary in length yet what each has in common is that at their most elemental level each is a string of moment after moment after moment after moment.In this soap bubble's brief moment of life it reflected beauty and wonder to the eye of the beholder.

One day Jesus met a boy whose life had been plagued by epilepsy. The boy was so plagued by the illness that his seizures often caused him to injure himself by falling into fire or bodies of water. The boy's father brought his son to Jesus to be healed. When the boy met Jesus, Matthew says "Jesus gave a command to the demon, and it went out of the boy, and at that very moment he was healed." There was a moment in that boy's life, just a moment, that turned his life around forever.

Sometimes we get so caught up wondering and worrying about lifetime issues that we miss the moments.A moment can change a lot of things, a lot of relationships, a lot of lives forever. One moment can make the difference between joy or sorrow, hurt or hope, even life or death. Just one simple moment... Sometimes we tell folks, "Don't sweat the small stuff," meaning, don't let your anxiety weigh you down by worrying so much about every little thing. In many circumstances that can be healthy, healing, and freeing advice. However, a healthy respect for moments is also important. A moment can change a life or a relationship, even forever.

The soap bubble I met on Sunday used its moment of life to reflect beauty and wonder. What do we do with our moments?
I pray that God will help me have a healthy respect for moments and use each to reflect God's beauty, wonder, and hope. How about you?

Gary
Pastor, Sand Hill United Methodist Church
Boaz, West Virginia


Help save lives! For more information on my new book, "A Relentless Hope: Surviving the Storm of Teen Depression," visit www.survivingteendepression.com.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1hSpxC_G24