Pastor's Blog: Making the Most of Opportunity
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How is that some people seem so prepared to barge through open doors while others of us find them slamming in our face? Clearly, our level of readiness has something to do with whether or not we make it through those passageways. Some people seem never to miss those moments of opportunity, while others only know them after someone else has taken advantage of them first.
This topic applies enormously to our Christian faith. If God has empowered us for the work of bringing His kingdom purposes to pass here on earth, then every day presents us with multiple chances to have an impact on something or someone that will last for all eternity. Even the challenging seasons of life contain such possibilities. Indeed, some of the most opportune moments in human history have come about when someone dared to see something that could be tweaked, altered, repurposed, or reconstructed for good. Such is the hope of our mortal existence—that we might find a way to make each moment complete.
Sadly, too many view life as something to survive. What was the title of the once popular country song, “Help Me Make It Through the Night?” With apologies to Willie Nelson, surely life holds more purpose than just making it from one day to the next. But suppose we managed to accomplish such a task? What then? I think I would much rather give my life for something more meaningful than merely marking days off my calendar.
That’s why the call of Jesus speaks so powerfully to those of us who look at life through these lenses. Jesus was constantly raising the bar in terms of His own devotion and intentionally called those to join Him who shared His passion for “life more abundant” (John 10:10). That’s also why others, ironically the religious crowd, felt the need to silence Him. “Better safe than sorry” was their motto. They saw no need for running risks when status quo kept things on an even keel. What the religious crowd had forgotten, however, was how every time God shows up somewhere, He does so to upset the status quo. Therefore, the life of faithful devotion is inherently risky. It’s the only way for “all things to become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
We are now in the season of Lent, the 40-day period prior to Easter Sunday. Now is the time for us to think carefully about what it means to take up the cross, the epitome of that risk which alone can lead to resurrection, and look for ways to join God in making our world more of what He created it to be. If that’s a task that makes your soul sing, then be alert to the Holy Spirit’s leading in your life over these next forty days; and when the doors of opportunity open for you, which they inevitably will, move through them with haste and never give what you’ve left behind a second thought.
“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is” (Ephesians 5:16-17).