Are you going around in circles? Are you’re encountering the same old problems again and again? Are you longing to break free from unhealthy patterns? Do you feel stuck? Are you unable to climb out of a rut? Is it possible that ungodly fear is holding you back? Is disobedience fueled by that fear causing you to miss Kairos moments that God places before you so you can walk out of that rut?
What is a Kairos moment, you might be asking? According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Kairos is defined as “A time when conditions are right for the accomplishment of a crucial action: the opportune and decisive moment.”
An example of a Kairos moment would be the day that the Israelites received the reports of the 12 spies as is recorded in Numbers 14. They were given a divine opportunity. If they crossed over the Jordan River in obedience to God’s command, and trusted His provision and believed His promises, they would enter the Land of Milk and Honey. However, their refusal to step forward cost them dearly, they spent the next forty years wandering in circles around a small desert region. Their choice to listen to the voices of fear and not the voice of Yahweh caused them to miss their Kairos moment. No one over the age of 20 would ever step foot on the promised land.
I am well aware that fear has been my greatest opponent since my earliest days as a Christian. I can look back and see a myriad of lost opportunities that fell by the wayside because I listened more to fear than to God’s directives. And yet, if I am not careful, I continue to allow fear to tether me to the desert ground, keeping me from stepping forward through a Kairos portal, and through the River Jordan.
Fear often masks itself behind the voice of reason. Many who know me well would say that wisdom is one of my strongest spiritual gifts. However, I am all too aware of my weaknesses. What might seem on the surface to be wisdom is nothing more than fear and disobedience. My trusted friends know me well enough that they can sense when I am listening more to fear than to God’s voice. Therefore, I give those friends permission to call me out!
God is a gracious God. Every interaction with His children overflows with His compassion and mercy. However, Kairos moments have a shelf-life. Hesitancy has no place in His Kingdom. When He calls us to move, He expects us to move out of absolute trust in the One who loves us absolutely! We might be jumping into the unknown, but the One who knows us jumps with us and catches us as we land.
God is the God of second chances, yes! However, there could be a delay longer than we would like before that second chance comes along. In that waiting time, God will give us opportunities to learn to be obedient to His calling. If we ask, He will help us silence the voice of ungodly fear.
I have more to say on this subject and will do so either in another blog in the next few days or in a Facebook Live. Stay tuned. Here is a little teaser. If you are a fan of the original Star Trek series, you might be interested in the illustration God gave me about Kairos moments as He brought back to mind a particular award-winning episode from that series.
Personal Application
Do you struggle with the fear of ‘what-if’? Do you tend to follow fear-mongers more than you follow hope-bearers? Pull out a notebook or a journal, or open up your Word Processing program, and jot down those times that come to mind when you took a risk for God and something good came out of it. Are there times you didn’t step out when you knew the Lord was leading you to do so? Write about those experiences as well. Confess your disobedience to Him and forgive yourself as He forgives you. Expect opportunities to come your way this week that will invite you to silence the voice of fear as you step forward in response to God’s call.
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All Bible verses attributed to the ESV version unless otherwise indicated.
Until Next Week
2018 Katherine Walden
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