Friday, January 6, 2012

Trust God And Seize Your Opportunities

How many opportunities have you passed over in the course of your life? Perhaps it was a job change, a position that would have made you more money, or a move to a completely different locale. Maybe it was a chance to serve God in a unique fashion.

I remember back in 1991, and the decision for Joan and me to sell our home, for me to quit my well paying job of 17 years, and to pack up the four kids and move across the country to Colorado to attend bible college. When we left the house hadn't even sold yet, and the moving van was less than a week behind us. We had no place to live and no jobs lined up. We just trusted God and went.

It's a decision I never regretted. It was an opportunity, and even though it posed some real concerns, we trusted God and followed the lead of the Holy Spirit.

We were rewarded in many ways by that choice. We stayed with another student for a weekend while we looked for a home. We found one within several days, and shortly after that Joan found a great job. Our home church back in New York even called one evening to let us know that the church board voted to pay the cost of my entire education.

That's God. By seizing the opportunity provided by Him we grew in our faith by leaps and bounds.

How about the opportunities we never test? How many things have gone less than the way they should have because we allowed fear and trepidation to control our lives?

It can all go so terribly wrong.

Take for example this passage from Paul:

Acts 13:46
"And Paul and Barnabas spoke out plainly and boldly, saying, It was necessary that God's message [concerning salvation through Christ] should be spoken to you first. But since you thrust it from you, you pass this judgment on yourselves that you are unworthy of eternal life and out of your own mouth you will be judged. [Now] behold, we turn to the Gentiles (the heathen)."

Paul was speaking of the Jews response to the message of salvation in Christ. Their decision to reject the gospel would result in a catastrophe that has followed them through the centuries. The very salvation which had been engineered by God Himself for them was rejected and subsequently presented to the Gentile and heathen.

One group of people's missed opportunity resulted in opportunity for others.

It still happens on a smaller scale today. Every day people are faced with the opportunity to accept Christ into their life and reject and refuse to do so.

Every day lived apart from Jesus is a missed opportunity for many things. Peace, joy, happiness, love, and ultimately eternal life, is all by the boards at the end of a life lived.

It's sad. Downright heartbreaking really.

Why forfeit everything? Why allow fear or ignorance to dictate our life path?

We can have a good life here and an even better one later.

It's all in Him. Live the adventure. Seize the moment. Dare to do things that you never considered simply because you can.

The possibilities are endless when we are guided and protected by the hand of God.

Be blessed today!

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><
www.reallifect.com

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