"God Moments"

Have you ever had an experience you recognized as a "God moment?" You know, something extraordinary happens and you realize that only God could have orchestrated it. Or a little voice inside you prompts you to speak to someone behind you in the grocery checkout or seated beside you on a plane or bus, and when you obey, you find out, perhaps, that they've recently lost a loved one and needed your word of encouragement/hope.

I've had a few of those experiences. On a recent plane ride, my husband and I were assigned to the last row. A pretty gal in her early 30s sat by the window and I took the middle seat. She sat quietly, looking out the window as the plane taxied toward the runway and took off. Then she closed her eyes and rested for the hour-long flight.

When we landed, I felt a divine nudge to ask if she was coming home from a trip. "No," she replied. "I live out east. I'm here for my cousin's funeral. She was murdered last week."

My heart nearly stopped. "I'm so sorry," I said. My eyes filled with tears as she continued to tell me about the tragedy. As she spoke, I learned that she was a believer and was praying for an opportunity to share God's love and hope with her grieving aunt and uncle. I was able to speak a few words of encouragement to her before we went our separate ways.

Beyond a doubt, that was a "God moment."

I read this morning about Jacob's "God moment" (Genesis 28). He had a dream -- an extraordinary one, to be sure -- in which he saw a stairway to heaven with angels going up and down, and the Lord standing at the top. During that dream, God made several promises to Jacob. When Jacob woke up, he realized that something supernatural had happened. He said, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn't even aware of it."

I think Jacob's words reflect one of my greatest fears. Heaven forbid that I wake up to realize I've missed an opportunity to share His love with someone who's hurting, or I've missed hearing His message to me because I was too busy or too preoccupied with other things. May I never say, "Surely the Lord was in this place, and I wasn't even aware of it."

May God plant within us a super-sensitivity to His Spirit so we will be aware of His presence and divine nudges, and be willing to obey.