At That Instant

Today's post is going to be quite a bit more personal than most.  There's a reason for it. Sometimes life will throw an awful curve ball at us, one so unexpected and so outrageous that our reaction to it will be a very definitive picture of who we really are.  For those of us who struggle with our Christianity, our reaction to the curve ball tells the story of where we are in our walk.  Those kinds of curve balls are, more often than not, spiritual warfare.  Sometimes they are very, very ugly--the kind that will cut to the quick of our peace, our spirit, and, yes,  our faith. They are makers or breakers in a brutal "game" of cut-throat spiritual chess.

I was the other side, on the receiving end, of one of those curve balls today.   Shared rather vehemently with me, out of a sudden and deep sense of outrage, were some statements about Christians and Christianity in general that were utterly void of any sense of logic and reason.  These statements weren't made about anything I had said or done, but rather were a result of some recent horrific mass shootings that have taken place in the country, the most recent one being yesterday.  Most importantly, they were made by a non-believer.

In that instant, the ball was in my court.  As a Christian man, how would I respond?  In that instant, would any words I might say be said in a reactionary way, or would my response be thoughtful, calm, and factual?  Would God be in control of my tongue as I responded, or would Satan laugh all the way to the fire knowing that "I lost it"?  In that instant, could I be the man I want to be, or would I revert back to the "old" me?

You see, we are all privy to those moments in our lives where "in that instant" we make the choice to be the light, or add to the darkness.  It's our call.  All I can say with no doubt is that it is far more often easier to add to the darkness than it is to be the light, and it is almost always one of those life's curve balls that forces us, yes forces, to make the choice. 

In the situation today, the light won over darkness.  But I also know, with no doubt, that this was just a skirmish in the battle of spiritual warfare, and that I will find myself making more of those "in that instant" choices as I continue to travel down this road of life I have chosen--to be a Godly man.

Bottom Line Thought:  Is your life all peaches and roses, or have you found that you also come face to face with those "in that instant" choices?  Do you sometimes feel as if it is one step forward, two steps back?  What do you do to prepare yourself for those moments?