Interview with Jo-Anne Berthelsen

If your life seems too ordinary to include moments where God breaks in, then let Jo-Anne Berthelsen encourage you to see God at work in your everyday life. In her new book God Moments, Jo-Anne shows us that even apparently mundane scenes or events in daily life can be used by God to reveal himself to us. 

Grounded in Scripture, the 101 uplifting devotions in God Moments encourage us to open our hearts to our extraordinary God and look for him amid our own ordinary routines. God Moments takes you on a devotional journey through 101 God ‘incidents’ and encourages you to see God speaking through your daily life. 

Jo-Anne, can you tell us a little about yourself?  

I live in Sydney, Australia, and, over the past twenty years, have written seven novels featuring key faith themes and four non-fiction works – Soul Friend, Becoming Me, Swansong and God Moments. I hold degrees in Arts and Theology and diplomas in Education and Ministry and have worked as a high-school teacher, editor and secretary, as well as in local church ministry. I love encouraging others in life in general and in their writing journeys and frequently speak at church and community groups. I also enjoy crossword puzzles, reading, playing the piano, and interacting with our adult children and grandchildren.  

Can you tell us a little about God Moments and who it is for? 

God Moments, sub-titled 101 Little Lessons for Life’s Journey, is a collection of brief reflections grouped under ten key themes that aim to encourage readers to walk closely with and live for God each day in every situation. Each reflection features a portion of Scripture and seeks to help us recognise God’s voice not only through God’s Word but also through the seemingly ordinary, daily events of life. I envisage my readers will primarily be Christian men and women of any age, either new to or mature in their faith, but also hope the themes featured in this volume will speak to the felt needs of non-Christian readers. To make each reflection as accessible as possible to all, I have chosen to include many personal examples from my own life and others, through which God drew me closer or taught me something more about living an authentic Christian life. 

There are a lot of devotions out there already, what makes God Moments different? 

First, God Moments features ten themes I believe are of vital importance in the Christian life such as God’s love and grace, connecting with God, loving and serving others, faithfulness and perseverance, rest and peace. This makes it different from devotionals that focus on one key theme or section of Scripture throughout – or indeed those that do not focus on any specific theme. Second, God Moments contains many personal stories and instances where God touched my own heart, mind and soul in a deep and lasting way. I have endeavoured to share these with honesty and vulnerability, in the hope that God will also touch the hearts of any who read them. Third, many of the reflections in God Moments are based on my weekly blog posts over recent years. This has enabled me to note how readers responded to these original versions, then shape and polish each one further. 

The book is all about finding God in the ordinary moments of life. You have a real gift of finding these moments that most of us miss! Why do you think that you see these glimpses of God, and can we really see them too? 

I have been a follower of Jesus for a long time now. During these years, by God’s grace, I have come to treasure so much and rely on the truth that God’s Spirit is present in me and around me each day, loving me and encouraging me, just as Jesus promised his disciples would happen (John 14:16–17). So for me, it’s a matter of remembering God is with me, wanting to connect with me in all my daily events, big and small, then truly listening to God’s voice and acting on what I hear and observe. And any of us who know and love God can do life in the same way – as God’s children, we all have God’s Spirit in us. It’s a matter of learning to be alert to God’s presence and to see the world with God’s eyes, so to speak. That may take time to develop more in our lives – and I have had wonderful people helping me grow along the way in this area – but these ‘God moments’ are certainly available to us all. 

You have organised the ‘lessons’ into ten themes – how did you go about choosing which ones to include? 

Choosing which themes to include involved a mixture of working out which have been so important to me in my own journey, and which may be most helpful in drawing the people with whom I come into contact closer to God. For example, the love and grace of God is key for me – and I believe this is truly what all our hearts long to experience deep down, whoever we are. Likewise, we all long to find rest and peace in our chaotic world, so I wanted to include that theme. Then the theme of faithfulness and perseverance seemed so important, not only because God has helped me persevere in my faith journey so often but also because I want to encourage others to be faithful and persevere. Other themes like forgiveness, Christlikeness, serving others, and dealing with change all begged to be included as well. Along the way, I had to make some tough decisions but I hope and pray the end result is helpful to all.  

Your love of God and the Word is evident throughout the book. How do you keep such a close relationship with God? 

I honestly feel so blessed that God has never given up on me and has continued to reach out to me when I have been less than faithful and have allowed other things to take the place of God in my life. For me, it’s all about God’s love and grace drawing me close once again when I eventually turn back. I realise too, however, that certain choices I make are an important part of nurturing a close relationship with God. Each day, I read some part of God’s Word and take with me into my day perhaps just one key insight God wants me to remember. I always have my Bible open on my desk beside me as I write, so I can remind myself often of what God has said to me that day. I spend time reflecting on God’s words too and praying for myself and others. As well, I love being part of our local church and, throughout my life, certain Christian leaders and friends have nurtured me in staying close to God. But again, for me, it’s about remembering and welcoming the presence of God’s Spirit in and around me throughout my day – having an ongoing conversation with God in my heart and mind, whatever is happening around me.  

What was the most challenging element of writing the book? 

Perhaps deciding which reflections needed to be included and which I needed to put aside for another volume – or delete altogether! I have so many ideas for reflections – I often say that God is all around and that I see things to write about everywhere I look! 

And what was the most rewarding element of writing this book?  

Perhaps seeing the whole collection come together in such a lovely way, after many hours spent fine-tuning each reflection, polishing every word so that it can have maximum impact and that the key point I wanted to make can shine through clearly.  

Have you been reminded afresh about your own personal journey with God while writing this book?  

As I fine-tuned each reflection, I tried to take to heart all over again the key lesson I felt God wanted me to share with others through it, so that my writing would be as fresh and authentic as possible. And time and time again, God reminded me in no uncertain terms of how the event described or the words of Scripture highlighted there had initially impacted me, comforting or encouraging or challenging me. Quite a journey! 

What do you hope readers will most get out of reading this book? 

I hope the key thing readers take away from God Moments, as they truly engage with the events described in each reflection and the Scripture highlighted there, is that God longs to be part of their own daily lives and is always reaching out to draw them closer and help them grow in their own faith. 

Is there anything we can pray for you? 

I would love you to pray that God will indeed use God Moments to encourage others towards a closer relationship with God on a daily basis. Also, it has taken quite a while for this volume to finally be published, so I would love prayer that God will enable me to promote the book in a fresh, enthusiastic way however I can, in person here in Australia and online.