A Time Like No Other

"So breathe it in and breathe it out

Listen to your heartbeat
There’s a wonder in the here and now
It’s right there in front of you
And I don’t want you to miss
The miracle of the moment!"

So ... today is Valentine's Day and you may be as single as single can be. There may be no special guy in your life to give you twelve red roses and an engagement ring. It's hard ... I know it's hard and I grieve for your pain and your tears.

But ...

Today - this very moment - is an amazing and awesome gift from God.

It's all the time you've got.

It's a unique and powerful moment in history.

This is a time like no other.

It's 'the miracle of the moment.'

God has good and beautiful plans for your life. If His plans for your life include marriage, there's a guy out there somewhere who is being raised up and prepared to be your husband. God will bring you together in His perfect time and write you a unique and breathtaking romance. But ... good and beautiful as these truths are, I think there's a bigger and better truth!

God created you. He loves you. And He's give you today - as single as single may be, yes, but still - He's given you this very moment.

Treasure it and live it to the full.

Maybe your heart is full or broken and you have to shed some tears ... do so, knowing that God will collect your tears in a bottle and bind up your broken heart.

But when you've dried your tears, treasure 'the miracle of the moment.'

Perhaps this seems so important to me because I was in Israel so recently. In Israel, there's this incredible sense of expectation and urgency in the air - as if everyone and everything is waiting for God to do something big ... something beyond our wildest dreams!

Having experienced that expectation and urgency, it's impossible to forget that each moment is a gift and a treasure - to be lived for God - regardless of whether it is February 13th or 14th or 15th! This Valentine's Day, realise that this is a time like no other - that God is at work in your heart and in your life and in the whole world! It's wonderful and it's exciting!

So take Stephen Curtis Chapman's advice ...

It’s time for letting go

All of our if only’s
‘Cause we don’t have a time machine
And even if we did
Would we really want to use it?
Would we really want to go change everything?
‘Cause we are who and where and what we are for now
And this is the only moment we can do anything about

So breathe it in and breathe it out
Listen to your heartbeat
There’s a wonder in the here and now
It’s right there in front of you
And I don’t want you to miss
The miracle of the moment!

There’s only one who knows
What’s really out there waiting
In all the moments yet to be
And all we need to know
Is He’s out there waiting
To Him the future’s history
And He has given us a treasure called right now
And this is the only moment we can do anything about
And if it brings you tears

So breathe it in and breathe it out
Listen to your heartbeat
There’s a wonder in the here and now
It’s right there in front of you
And I don’t want you to miss
The miracle of the moment!

And if it brings you tears
Then taste them as they fall
And let them soften your heart
And if it brings you laughter
Then throw your head back
And let it go, let it go
You gotta let it go
Listen to your heartbeat

So breathe it in and breathe it out
Listen to your heartbeat
There’s a wonder in the here and now
It’s right there in front of you
And I don’t want you to miss
The miracle of the moment!

Stephen Curtis Chapman