Seizing Your Divine Moment, Erwin Raphael McManus

Review by Carol Lee Kim

I believe that many of us have, at some point, found ourselves in a place where life had become comfortable, manageable. My husband and I find ourselves in such a place: we are both gainfully employed, we have insurance, two cars, a nice little house for which we can comfortably pay the bills, and we look forward to having a little family one day soon. And yes, we contribute resources to our church and are even involved in church ministry. This does not look like a bad picture of a Christian family. In fact, I think this same picture describes quite well many individuals and families at our church and there is certainly nothing wrong or ungodly about leading such a life. But once in a while, God places before us a challenge to respond to something more, a higher calling that beckons us out of our comfort zone. Such a call need not be grandiose (the majority of us will not be called to perform miraculous healings en masse); often, in fact, it is not. It may be simply to step up to talk to a new face at church or even to just show up at service on a day you were contemplating "passing". When seized, such moments potentially lead us to discover something greater, a bigger and more exciting picture of God's plan for our role in partnering with Him than we had imagined.

Erwin Raphael McManus' book, Seizing Your Divine Moment is a must-read for anyone who yearns to not only see the good things of God, but to witness and be a part of the GREAT things of God. McManus draws an effective picture of "seizing one's divine moment" with the example of Jonathan in 1 Samuel 14. Jonathan was the son of Saul, Israel's first king. Jonathan's rightful throne as the king's successor was essentially taken from him and given to the son of a shepherd, named David. Instead of being consumed by bitterness and envy, Jonathan embraced his identity as God's servant, allied himself with David and seized the unique moment presented to him by his heavenly Father. While his earthly father, Saul, disobeyed God and consequently found himself paralyzed by fear and inaction against the Philistine giants, Jonathan listened for and heard God's voice. Then, he obeyed. In the middle of the night, Jonathan beckoned his armour bearer to secretly go with him to the Philistine outpost. Jonathan seized his divine moment: he righteously defied his powerful father and as a consequence, led the Israelites to victory.

Not all of us will be called to be a King David, but each and every one of us is called to be a Jonathan. As McManus says there are three little words that separate Jonathan from Saul, and for that matter, from most of us. They are: "Come, let's go." Instead of being constrained or defeated by our circumstances, we must recognize that God has a good purpose for our lives that goes beyond mere personal survival. God wants us close to Him, to entrust us with the passions of his heart and that we walk with him in his plans for our lives. McManus says this:

Ironically, however, the more we move with God, the more He seems to bless our lives, and the more He blesses our lives, the more we have to lose and the greater the risk that we become complacent in living the "safe Christian life". In other words, "God's blessing... can become our greatest hindrances to seizing our divine moments." (McManus, 39) However, this need not be the rule, only a caution, and this book is a powerful reminder.