Teachable Moments

Yesterday, I was reading my Bible in Mark, chapter 4. I got to the part where Jesus is inside a home and some said to him that his mother and brothers were outside wanting to see him. Jesus' reply was to ask, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" His reply to this rhetorical question was, "Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother."
I always thought this was a rude way to reply to his mother and brothers until I got to thinking about what was not recorded in the Bible and the situation Jesus was in. He was surrounded by people and busy teaching them. He did not get up and go outside and ask that rhetorical question. His mother and brothers could not have heard him. He used this moment, the statement about his family to teach those around him something new. He saw this instant as a "teachable moment" and he couldn't pass it up! (I always like to believe that afterwards, Jesus goes out to see his family or he invites them in with him.)
How many "teachable moments" have I passed up? How many have I taken? A friend of mine took an opportunity to share God's fatherly love with her grandson as they were talking about finding Nemo. Her grandson made the observation that Nemo's dad went to great lengths to find Nemo. My friend replied that God goes to great lengths to bring us to him, because of His great love for us! Wow! Would I have thought of that?
Tonight, I had my opportunity. Ruth Anne received one of those chain emails...you know the ones...they start out with "Fw:Fw:Fw:" in the subject line and end with "send this to ten of your best friends." Well, this one told of people who died because they didn't forward it on and ended with "if you don't send it to ten people in 3 hours after reading this, you will die." What is a 13 year old to think? In Ruth Anne's words it "freaked" her out! She didn't want to send the rubbish to her friends, yet it put the fear of dying in her. She said to me, "I want to trust God. But it's so hard. I don't want to die." I took that opportunity to share with her about Abraham. I told her it took many years for him to develop trust that even though God asked him to sacrifice his only son (from Sarah), Isaac, God had a plan! And God did! He stopped Abraham before killing Isaac and provided a ram for him to sacrifice instead! Abraham had faith! But, that faith was developed over time. Abraham made mistakes along the way. His faith gave out on several occasions. Ours will, as well. I told Ruth Anne that this was just one step in her walk of faith with God. She found a verse 8 in Psalm 4 that says, "In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." I encouraged her to take a step of faith. Trust God in this verse. Lie down and sleep, trusting Him to keep you safe...and alive!
It was a great moment with my precious daughter. How I look forward to more teachable moments like this, with both my daughter and my son! I pray that I would not miss others that God gives me!
Blessings!