I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire. (Luke 24:32)
It’s one of the most exciting times in life.
It’s when opportunity presents itself.
It’s exciting because you have to make a choice, and you know that your choice will affect your future, and maybe the future of many others.
It’s exciting, and nerve wracking.
In fact, some people are scared of opportunities precisely because of the possible huge ramifications. They think, “Well, if I don’t choose at all, at least I won’t make the wrong choice.”
Tell that to the man in Jesus’ parable who hid his talent in the ground instead of using the opportunity wisely.
Ah, now that’s the key: using opportunities wisely!
So how do we do that?
First of all, the Bible tells us not to “give opportunity” to the flesh, or to the devil. So when we are looking at an opportunity and deciding what to do about it, we clearly want to avoid things that are sinful.
We don’t become unequally yoked. We don’t cheat people. We don’t take advantage of people. We don’t enter into win-lose situations where I win and you lose. That may be taking advantage of an opportunity, but it’s wrong and sinful.
Galatians 6:10 says, “as we have opportunity, let us do good to all…”
So how do we handle opportunities? One thing we are looking for is how we can use this opportunity to do good for all, not just me. We’re looking for opportunities to create win-win situations, where everyone’s situation is improved and no one comes up a big loser.
One question to ask is, “How can I use this opportunity to solve problems, both my problems and other people’s problems?”
Proverbs tells us that lazy people ignore opportunities, and ignorant people don’t even notice them.
I think God often brings opportunities into our life.
Back to the parable of the talents, in Matthew 25 Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like…” Like what? It’s like a rich man who gave opportunities to his servants, and he wanted to see how they would handle them.
Maybe you never thought of it that way.
I think God brings opportunities into our life, and then He watches, like a patient Father, to see what we will do with them.
What He wants is for us to take advantage of the opportunity in order to do good.
Next comes the question of which opportunities to work on, because in this day and age the world is crawling with opportunities and you can’t possibly take on all of them.
Back to the book of Galatians.
Galatians 5:16 tells us to “walk in the Spirit,” which means to be guided by the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 5:18 tells us to be “led by the Spirit.”
Galatians 5:25 tells us to “live in the Spirit.”
As Christian believers, we have to learn to discern the leading and speaking of God’s Holy Spirit inside of us.
And then when opportunity presents itself, we can watch for God’s Spirit in us to rise up and put a fire in us that says, “Yes, there it is. Go for it.”
Yes, it can still be nerve wracking, because it’s important!
But don’t be like the lazy and ignorant and even wicked person who lets opportunities pass by, ignoring them while supposedly “playing it safe.”
It didn’t work for the man in the parable of the talents, and it won’t work for us!
So when you see the opportunity arise, take a good look, pray for wisdom, listen to the Holy Spirit, and be ready to strike while the iron’s hot, going forward in faith and trust that God is with you, and He will help you turn it into a winner for everyone involved.
May God bless you today.
I’m Doug Apple.