(April 11, 2024) Carol Round encourages… and challenges –

Looking back on your life, can you remember a choice leading to a life course change? At some point in our Christian lives, we’ve either faced or will be faced with crossroad decisions.
 
Crossroads decisions are defining moments. Those decisions influence or change our lives and affect our future. Imagine a fork in the road. Depending on the moment, and how you react to it, your life can go in one direction or the other.
 
It reminds me of Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken. The writer is travelling down a road where he must decide which path he will choose as ‘two roads diverged.’  As he debates his choice, he contemplates the differences between the two paths.

Ultimately, he chooses the path less travelled and says, ‘That has made all the difference.’

Life Choices Make a Difference
In an article by Dr Ryan Niemiec titled ‘What Are Your Defining Moments?’ he writes about a first date he had. ‘After a stagnant and uncomfortable dinner, we walked out of the Mexican restaurant together. I had many thoughts swirling around as I held the door for my date: “This is it. I’ll never go out with this beautiful woman again,” and I ruminated, “All my efforts to find the courage to ask her out in the first place are down the drain. I guess I blew it.”’

But, as Dr Niemiec walked his date to her car, he chose to ask her out again. She agreed and eventually, she became his wife. He writes that two character traits were at play when he decided to ask her for a second date: Perseverance and hope.

I’m reminded of John 16:33ESV – ‘I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.’

Defining moments don’t have to be dramatic. However, if we examine those moments through the lens of faith, we learn how our decisions not only affect us but how they affect those around us.

When Our Decisions Affect Others
Queen Esther faced such a decision, a defining moment for both her and her people, the Jews. Originally named Hadassah, she had changed her name to hide her heritage.

Now, as the queen of Xerxes I, the Persian king, she plays a crucial role in saving the Jewish people from a plot to annihilate them.

Haman, an evil advisor to the king, persuades him to sentence her people to death. When Esther’s Uncle Mordecai uncovers the plot, he points out she is in a unique position to save the people. He says, ‘Who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?’(Esther 4:14).

Risking her own life, Esther reveals her Jewish identity to the king and intervenes on behalf of her people. The king, so taken with his beautiful wife, reverses Haman’s plot. Because of the queen’s courage, the Jewish people are saved. It was a defining moment made by a woman who made the right choic, regardless of her own safety.

What is Your Defining Moment?
My defining moment led to a change in my life’s path when I returned to my religious roots. After drifting away from church for almost 15 years, I returned. Returning to church, I discovered my heavenly Father wanted a relationship with me. And it wasn’t just about attending church each Sunday and warming the pew!
 
My perspective on life changed as I began to seek Him, study the Bible, and spend more time in prayer. The change was within me and my life has undeniably changed – and for the better. Thanks be to God!
 
What is your defining moment? Maybe you haven’t experienced it yet, but at some point, you will have an opportunity, like Queen Esther, to make an eternal difference in the lives of others.

Ask God to show you the defining moments He is sending your way.

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Carol Round is an author and inspirational speaker. Her encouraging articles have appeared in national and international publications, and she especially loves hearing from readers, saying ‘Feel free to share this post.’ Links: A Matter of Faith weekly column: carol@carolaround.com / www.carolaround.com.

We recommend these two books by Carol: Journaling with Jesus and companion The 40 Day Challenge, knowing that they will help readers draw close to God – (See: http://bit.ly/2LGOvKN and Amazon author page: https://amzn.to/2pP5Yr6).
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