Day 2 – Grace-Filled Moments
The ancient Greeks had two words for time: chronos and kairos.
Chronos refers to chronological time as in “the exact time the star had appeared” for the Magi (Matthew 2:7). Kairos refers to opportune and decisive moments as in “now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
Brother Lawrence had such a grace-filled, karios moment.
We are told: “I saw Brother Lawrence for the first time, and he told me that God had granted him a special grace of conversion at the age of eighteen when he was still in the world. One day in winter while he was looking at a tree stripped of its leaves, and he realized that in a little while its leaves would reappear, followed by its flowers and fruit, he received a profound insight into God’s providence that has never been erased from his soul” (Conversation 1:1).*
As Brother Lawrence gazes upon a bare tree in winter, he foresees that new life would come in the spring. In that moment he sees himself before God – he is that tree, and God is bringing new life to him. He trusts Christ for his salvation and he is born again.
Kairos moments are defining moments – special and significant grace-filled times when God moves in our lives. And we are changed.
These holy moments are often precipitated by our earnest repentance or surrender to God or by taking some bold step of faith. Sometimes, however, they come to us quite unexpectedly during the ordinary events of life. Either way we are touched by grace of God.
God spoke to our family once through a tall, thick tree that blew down in our backyard during a violent wind storm. A tree that had stood for years, around 30 inches in diameter, was snapped off in a few seconds.
Some would have viewed this as a natural phenomenon. Others would have felt helpless over the destructiveness of nature.
Yet Donna and I both felt that God was using this event to demonstrate to us his overwhelming power in a difficult situation we were facing. And our anxious hearts were quieted.
A grace-filled, kairos moment.
Questions for you: Recall a grace-filled moment in your life – your conversion to Christ or another time God became real. What precipitated it, or was it unexpected? Was it an emotional experience? A moment of intellectual insight? A shift in the direction of your will? All of these?
This is God’s Word for you today,
Pastor Dave
*All references from Conrad De Meester, Writings and Conversations On the Practice of the Presence of God: Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection (Nicolas Herman) (Washington, D.C.: ICS Publications, 1994), Salvatore Sciurba, trans.
