“The ball is tipped, and there you are. You’re running for your life. You’re a shooting star.” This line gets sung by every college basketball player during the tournament. All of them hoping to win a championship, but all of them desiring that one shining moment that they get to be in the spotlight for that montage of great plays at the end of the tournament.
For some, like the players at Grand Canyon University, they
know they will not play professional basketball. For others, they hope that
their shining moment will propel them into the professional league. Whatever it
is, it’s good to recognize our shining moments.
Throughout my life, people have noticed and pointed out my
flaws. I have many of them. I know that. Many times, including Christians,
people do not recognize our shining moments. Since other people don’t recognize
them, we think that they don’t exist or that we just need to humble ourselves
and sweep our shining moments under the rug, but that’s not letting our light
shine.
Our shining moments reveal the use of our gifts and talents
that God has given us. We can be humble and still acknowledge our shining
moments. If we don’t recognize our shining moments, we then struggle to repeat
them, and they need repeating because people need the light of Jesus.
So, how do we acknowledge our shining moments and remain
humble? I wish I had put this into practice better than I do, but I have seen
this set as an example, and it has a unique beauty. My professors at my
colleges that saw my abilities had that unique way of letting their light shine
without bragging. They accepted praise and didn’t apologize for it. They
continued to grow and move forward.
Moving forward
disables bragging and acknowledges what you have done well. When you stay
stuck, you just want to repeat the shining moment and live in that moment
forever, but you can’t. You must move to the next level.
Society will try to silence you. They get on social media
and tell you to be quiet and let others, who have not helped anyone, shine.
They claim that you speak too much. They don’t want you to be successful in
your talents and gifts because they are filled with envy. If we don’t share our
light, then we become greedy. Greed and envy will destroy any society.
If we don’t share our light, which consists of our gifts and
talents, then we hoard the love of Jesus and have become greedy with our faith.
Just because some people in society want to silence others doesn’t mean
Christianity is under attack. It means we allow other people to monitor and
control what we do. We cannot hide.
We don’t have to stand on the street corner and scream at
people. We just need to use the gifts and talents that God has given us to
bring someone into the presence of Jesus. The more we use those gifts and
talent, the more people see Jesus.
Our talents could be baking for others, painting, creating
homemade cards, singing, balancing budgets for individuals or churches or other
groups that desperately need a balanced budget. We can write, meet with others,
and empower them with our encouraging words. We can read and research the
truth. We can have conversations instead of trying to prove to everyone how
right we are. Whatever we do, we can use our strengths to bring glory to God.
So, this week, find your shining moment. Document it. Share
it with a friend or family member. Let it be in the montage of your memory. In
the end, you will be able to sing. “And when it’s done, win or lose, you always
did your best because inside you knew that One Shining Moment you reached deep
inside. One shining moment, you knew you were alive.”
