James W. Moore - Moments That Take Your Breath Away

H ow long has it been since you had one of those moments that takes your breath away? As we have been reminded in numerous ways in recent years (through billboards, banners, plaques, bumper stickers, church bulletins, and so forth), "It is not the number of breaths we take, it is the number of moments that take our breath away." And this is so true! Life is so much more than an endurance test. It is so much more than "tick-tock time" time measured by the ticking of a clock, with each second exactly like the one that preceded it and the one that follows it. No, every now and thenand more often than we realizeGod breaks into the routine and gives us one of those awesome moments, so powerful, so amazing, so beautiful, that "time seems to stand still." It's a moment that takes our breath away!

This is what happened to Isaiah in the Temple (Isaiah 6). He came to the Temple that day as he had come routinely so many times before, but on that day he "saw the Lord high and lifted up." It took his breath away, and he accepted God's call to be a prophet. He heard God's call, "A prophet is needed for this hour"; and with breathtaking excitement, Isaiah responded, "Here am I; send me" (verse 8).

This is precisely what happened to Moses in Exodus 3. Moses was watching over his father-in-law's flock one day, as he had so many days before, when all of a sudden God appeared to him in a burning bush. Moses was so inspired by that breathtaking moment that he took off his shoes, because he knew this was a sacred moment and he was standing on "holy ground" (verse 5). And from that moment, he set out to go to Egypt and set God's people free.

And look at Jesus. Jesus in his lifetime on earth inspired so many breathtaking moments. All kinds of images come to mind:

• the shepherds and the wise men, kneeling in awe and wonder at the manger;
• the elders in the Temple, amazed and astonished by the wisdom and insight of the twelve-year-old Jesus;
• Zacchaeus, up in a sycamore tree, so bowled over by Jesus' acceptance of him that he comes down out of that tree giving money away;
• Bartimaeus on the Jericho Road, healed of his blindness by Jesus, so inspired by Jesus' goodness and power, that he drops everything and follows Jesus on the way;
• the woman in the crowd who touched the hem of Jesus' robe in hopes that this simple gesture could bring the healing she had been seeking for twelve long years; and when the healing does indeed come, she is overwhelmed by the love and power of Jesus in that breathtaking moment;
• Doubting Thomas in the upper room, who finally sees the risen Christ with his own eyes and falls in amazement on his knees, exclaiming, "My Lord and my God!";
• Saul of Tarsus, encountering the resurrected Lord on the Damascus Road, so blown away by God's amazing grace in that breathtaking moment that he is converted and becomes God's missionary to the Gentiles and the prolific writer of much of what we now call the New Testament.

We could go on and on, because Jesus' life was filled with moments that take our breath away. I am sure that right now you are thinking of many others, because there are so many.

But the question is: How is it with you? How long has it been since you had a moment like thata moment so powerful, so touching, so awesome, that it took your breath away? Some of the breathtaking moments are life-changing. All are inspirational!

I have had many moments like that. Some were quite dramatic, some were quite memorable, some were just too beautiful for words. Do you remember the first time you saw the ocean? Or a majestic mountain range? Or a breathtaking sunset with colors so amazing that you find yourself thinking, Only God could do that! Do you remember the fist time you saw the Statue of Liberty? Or a majestic cathedral? Or a rosebud? Or a stunning skyline? Or a rippling wheat field at harvest time? Have you ever had your breath taken away by the gracious generosity of a friend? Or the beauty of a loved one? Or the kindness of a neighbor? Or the unexpected support from someone in your time of trouble? Or the innocent face of a little child? Or the heart-touching impact of a Mozart concerto or a Bach anthem or a Dickinson poem or a powerful sermon?

God has so many breathtaking moments for us, but we have to have the eyes of faith to see them, the ears of faith to hear them, the hearts of faith to feel them, and the hands of faith to seize and embrace and celebrate them.

It happened again for our family on August 16, 2007. We got our first look at our new grandson, Mason Joseph Moore (to whom this book is dedicated). He was born at 5:41 P.M. Twenty minutes later, we got to see him for the very first time. And as it had happened before with our two children and with our four other grandchildren, it was one of those amazing, incredible, powerful, awesome moments that took our breath away. There is nothing in the world like the miracle of birth, the miracle of life; and when you experience that in your own life or in the life of your family, it is absolutely breathtaking!