This is an ambiguous term which is misunderstood in our society of easy standards. We seem to think that if we wait long enough, an opportunity to have a defining moment will arrive, and we will thenceforth be known by the heroic act we performed in that one “defining moment.” That is not the way of Scripture. In Scripture, we are given examples, over and over, of those individuals whose moments are recorded, and which defined and molded their lives, but they are not “defining moments” as we know them.
In reality, when we consider what we call a “defining moment” in the Bible, we are considering a displaying moment which follows an earlier “defining moment” (or moments). For clarification, consider David who was not defined by what happened when he descended into the valley of Elah. Rather, David displayed in those moments when all of eternity focused on him, what he had become in his “defining moments” alone with God and his sheep in a pasture. He stated himself, that what he would do in the Valley, he had done many times before. He was not charging into a new arena to make a name for himself; he was stepping out to prove the God of Heaven, as was his habit.
Let us also remember, that Davids life was not only defined by the formative days in the pasture, and the forsaken days in the cave, but also by the forbidden days in his palace, with a woman whom he had taken wrongfully, and the fugitive days when he lived as a madman in an enemy city. The times of Davids grievous sin were as much a part of who he was, as was the time of his incredibly deep communion with God. Follow that through the experience of all those who had great value to Christ. How much of what defined Peter came from the night at the fire and the following restoration? Jobs questions of God set a stage onto which God would thunder, to show Job his eternal role in an eternal drama. Moses rash action began a process which would give him the best knowledge of a wayward flock and of the harsh desert, which would later fit him to shepherd Gods wayward flock through the wilderness.
We are useful to God with all of our failures. We need to be willing to bring all our experiences to the sufficiency of Christ, and to be confident, that if we are willing to leave them with Him, He can use them to shape us into something which will be useful for Him. We must understand that our unfortunate choices will have permanent consequences in our lives, just as David never built the Temple, and Moses never entered the land. We must also understand that the only possible good which can come from those experiences is when they are given to God for Him to work with.
Psalm 51 is a wonderful example of yielding up the past, with a look to the future for better usefulness and greater spiritual depth.
v8. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
v9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
v10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. {right: or, constant}
Lets stop waiting for the opportunity to have a “defining moment” by which we will forever be remembered, realizing that our “defining moments” are passing one at a time. What we do every day, in our house, in our car, in our workplace, in our assembly, is what we are, and heaven is waiting and watching for us to begin to prove God, in all that we do. To step out in faith and understand that our “job” is not that place we go from 9 to 5, and our employer is not the individual whose name is on the paycheck. Our job is to win souls, to make disciples of every nation. Our employer is the one who has given us every blessing. Let us seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness. All the other things will come.
