Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15, NASB)
Have you ever made a hole-in-one? If so, I bet you can remember which hole and which course it was on. You probably can still picture the moment of elation, even if it happened a long time ago. And if you have more than one ace, you’ve been adding to the memories.
I have another question for you. Where were you the morning of September 11, 2001? You likely have vivid memories of watching the second plane fly into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
These moments in time are used by the Holy Spirit to give us spiritual upgrades and to fill us with more of his character.Meaningful events in our lives, both positive and negative, leave indelible marks on us; however, the most significant ones often are negative. In these poignant moments our faith gets tested. Sometimes we respond well in our faith, and other times we turn from or get angry with God. One of the key things that I have learned from these instances of my past is to not ask “why” questions, but rather “what” questions. Instead of asking God, “Why is this happening to me?” we should be asking him, “What are you up to in my life?” and “What should my response be?”
These are kairos moments. Kairos is an ancient Greek word for time, but not time in the sense of chronology (that Greek word is chronos, used 54 times in the New Testament). Kairos means “the appointed time in the purpose of God.” It is used 86 times in the New Testament; an example is in today’s verse. The word has roots in weaving, denoting the moment in which the shuttle could be passed through the threads on a loom. It is the intersection time.
Kairos moments are opportunities for the invisible and eternal God to intersect and intercede in our lives. Again, they don’t have to be negative, but God certainly allows trials in our lives, because they can be used so easily by him for our learning and growth. The authors of the New Testament understood this well. Paul wrote that we “exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:3-5).
James offered something very similar in his epistle, saying that trials are used to “perfect and complete” us (James 1:2-4). These moments in time are used by the Holy Spirit to give us spiritual upgrades and to fill us with more of his character. God uses the situations in our lives when we are focused on him to become conformed to the image of his Son (Romans 8:29), but it requires two ongoing actions that we can see came with the gospel Jesus preached about experiencing his kingdom in this life—repent and believe.
Repentance is the spiritual process of changing our minds and the direction we are heading. Kairos moments are opportunities to make turns toward growth. Belief also requires action. We are not called to “believe that” God can do something, but to “believe in and on” his active work in our lives. The most significant kairos moment is when we begin to walk with Jesus. Nonetheless, we should be asking God for them ongoingly and embrace the process he uses to mature and complete us in Christ.
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Josh Nelson
August 13, 2018
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.