The Lost Moment: (Audio)
Have you ever had an “uh oh” moment? You made a wrong decision and the opportunity to make it right is gone? Perhaps you hemmed and hawed and should have simply said Yes, or No. The waffling of the moment is nearly as bad as making the wrong choice.
I call them “ditch divers” and you may have a different unkind word to describe those who do not know which way to go on the freeway. The multiple exits are rapidly appearing and at the last moment, they ditch dive and head across multiple lanes of a potential mangled mess! Just to get to the exit they could have easily come back to from another direction.
Torn between choices and opportunities, too often we simply choose wrong.
This morning, and from late last night, I thought about how we waste so much opportunity and we can never get it back. The chance to do good and we don’t. The opportunity to buy a good deal and we skip it. The words left unspoken in the moment when they were needed the most is almost as equal to the words we should never speak, but they slipped through somehow.
It’s like we are living in a web full of its version of infomercials, the countdown clock is ticking, get ’em while you can, it will never be offered again. Either the moment slips past unfulfilled, or you buy into it and have that “uh oh” momentary twinge because you bought into it!
My thought today is that these moments come when we have no clear direction set before us, and we are tempted to buy in because we just simply know it’s the right thing to do. How many times have we said to our spouse, “We are just shopping. We are NOT here to buy!” and then we walk away with that new bundle of whatever.
Our lives are defined by our opportunities, even the ones we miss. ~F. Scott Fitzgerald Click To Tweet
Why do we choose the path we took? Why did we not take a better path?
Maybe it’s as simple as our weakness of the moment. Honesty is sometimes harder than silence. Right choices are harder than our need for ease.
Think with me for a moment.
It was on the cross between two criminals that Jesus prepared for his death. The two other men were common criminals of the day and they were arguing about whether Jesus could save them all. After haranguing each other, one turns to Jesus and says, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” (Luke 23:42-43)
A simple statement before death. A comment that may, or may not, produce the desired result. Who knows. But in those ending moments, he said, Lord… The other man is not recorded as saying another word. Jesus answers the first man, “Today. You will be with me in Paradise.” All three will still suffer, but one made the choice while the other did not. Last breath. The moment is gone.
What about you? Regretting your lost moment to change the direction of your ship? The larger the decision that is wrongly made, the longer the effort to return to a better choice. While there is breath, there is still hope and a chance. Why don’t you Recapture your lost moment before it’s too late.