it only takes one second

Tonight, my perspective was changed by a group of middle school boys at Motion Night (I never thought I would say that statement). As I stood in the back during worship tonight, I got a little irritated with the students playing around, standing with their arms crossed, and talking during worship, but a certain group of middle school boys caught my eye. They were actually hitting each other while Scripture was being read (ugh) and the rest of the group of maybe 20 were standing completely still or looking around at the ceiling during the first song of worship. I was honestly having a hard time focusing on worship because my eyes were right in front of me on these distractions. So I began to pray for them to be still, so I could focus (selfishly), then those prayers turned into prayers for their souls and to see them the way God does, and then those boys became the people I pray for every day. The people I have prayed for years to find a real relationship with the Lord, the people I have been praying for since I first found Christ myself, my friends and family who I want more than anything to experience the life found in Christ that I have found. Those boys were my family, they were my friends, they began to represent the people I love the most instead of the people irritating me during worship at Motion night. As this transformation happened, God showed me something that turned my prayers into tears of joy. 

 "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere..." (Psalm 84:10)

One second in His presence is all it takes to change a person completely. Prayers I have been praying for years and years for salvations can happen in one instant when God shows up. I could get a call at any moment from one of these people who I have been praying for and holding onto for so long, because my prayers are not empty no matter how long they have been going up. He hears me and He loves me and He loves the people I am praying for more than I ever could. I know this because in just a few moments, tonight I saw both hands go up in worship from one of the boys (tears), then I saw another, and another (more tears), and by the end of this song, the exact same boys who I had just watched fighting during the Scripture had their hands raised (now sobbing). In a sea of young people who are lost and uninterested, the very ones I noticed and brought to the Lord in prayer were worshiping with hands lifted high. In the span of one moment, my perspective changed. I don't know if they had an experience with God like never before, or if they simply raised their hands because one of their friends did, but either way God spoke to me and told me that it only takes ONE second. One second equals a life changed for eternity, and it only takes one second for someone to come into the kingdom of God, no matter how long the prayers have been prayed. It only takes one second for a person to go from fighting to worshiping, from lost to found. The wait is worth the one second when the transformation happens- keep holding on, keep praying, His timing is perfect and He always chooses the exact second He wants to make that move. He always makes a way.