Experiencing Rare Moments

The past few days have been amazing for me personally. This past Saturday night was the first time in a while that I just kicked back, cleared my mind, and enjoyed God’s creation around me. I climbed on top of my truck in order to climb onto the roof of our house here in Florence. Then I stretched out on the roof and gazed into the heavens for a while. Then today after I got done running, I started to stretch by my truck and catch my breath before leaving the TVA trails. I looked up and an elderly man pulled up beside me in his vehicle. He asked if I would be interested in selling my truck. I told him I was not and thought that would end the conversation. However, thankfully it was not. He began asking me where I was from, about school, and my plans for the future. He asked if I had a girlfriend or had found the one. He told me to be absolutely sure that she was the one when I did. He then told me about how his daughter had thought she found her soul mate but after two years of marriage she realized she had thought wrong. He asked me where I went to church and about my spiritual life. He then said I seemed like a young man who had his head on straight. He gave me his number and to give him a call if I found a carpenter interested in doing a job for him on some of his property. He told me that his wife attended the Killen congregation, and he also went there with her often. He finally recommended to me a book from the Mars Hill Bible Bookstore that I needed to read about the church. I plan on reading this book at my first opportunity. We said our goodbyes, and he drove off. I was left stunned and humbled by this stranger who started a conversation with me stranger to him and showed great concern for whom I was as a person. On my way back to the house, I could not get this man’s boldness to talk to a complete stranger in the way that he did with honest and sincere interest, concern, and love. Coach Stanley Johnson has always taught the youth in Moulton to cherish the rare moments we experience in our lives. This experience was truly a rare moment which I am so thankful God allowed me to be a part of.

I briefly mentioned earlier about sitting on the roof and gazing up into the heavens. While I was up on the roof, I looked at the stars and imagined how far away they are. I thought about how God had planned and designed the universe so perfectly to suit life here upon earth for His creation to dwell. Everything God has done has been for His creation. I reflected on where I am in my life and Christian walk. I came to some realizations of what I must do to change myself in order to make a difference in this world. I contemplated a statement someone one had made a few days earlier but cannot recall who said it. The person basically said that we need to take time to just enjoy sitting at the feet of our God and dwell in the moment. My experience on the roof was just that. I was sitting and enjoying the humbling and honoring thought of being at the feet of my God sitting on His glorious throne.

Enough about my experiences. We all can recall a time where we experienced rare moments with loved ones, strangers, or just between us and God. Experiencing these rare moments leave a mark on our hearts and minds that change us forever. These rare moments mold us into the person that we need to be for God and in order to turn the world upside down.

Sadly, these rare moments we experience can often only be described in one way: rare. These moments only come around every so often. I am afraid we miss experiencing these rare moments and allow them to pass us by. We do not see the value of these rare moments until we look back and by then it is too late. These rare moments can be anything from a special moment with a group, person, stranger, or God. I encourage you to open your eyes and seek rare moments to experience with loved ones, strangers, and God.

Do not allow opportunities to pass you by. I am so thankful that the elderly man I met today took the opportunity to stop and talk to me as a complete stranger. He could have simply kept driving through the parking lot and left. I may never know if he will better because of our conversation today, but I know that I am a better person because of this man today. We so often pray for God to give us strength or courage or boldness or patience or to increase our faith etc, but how often do we pray for God to send us opportunities to be strong or courageous or bold or patient or to increase our faith? We must open our eyes to the opportunities God gives us every day. If God provides the opportunity, we must be willing to participate in the opportunity. These opportunities may become a rare moment that will leave a stamp on our lives changing us forever.

In Phillippians 1:3, Paul opens his letter by saying, "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.” After reading this verse, the people who come to mind are often the ones with whom you have experienced rare moments. Always be thankful for these friends but take the opportunities God provides to develop new friendships with people to experience rare moments with them too. As I learned today, always be willing and take the opportunity to talk to strangers because as the writer of Hebrews said, "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so some have unwittingly entertained angels." (Hebrews 13:2). Finally, when it is all said and done, we all hope to experience the rare moment of hearing God say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you a ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” (Matthew 25:21)
-Tyler

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