A couple of years ago I was talking to a Pastor friend of mine from across the pond. He said something rather interesting that I have never forgotten. He said something like this: ‘the opportunity of a lifetime must be seized in the lifetime of the opportunity’.
What the Pastor said got me thinking about life in general. We have openings, doors, windows, access points that present themselves, in a multitude of ways. Applying the saying to myself, I reflected on a number of missed opportunities; and from that day onwards resolved even more to pray for and actively look out for divine appointments or what I have heard people refer to as God-moments.
I have often though about this so-called window of opportunity and wondered why we so often miss out and mess up. A number of distinct yet by no means mutually exclusive reasons have come to mind. First, we are simply not aware of the fact that we are being presented with an opportunities. We are in essence blind to the opportunities that come our way. For blindness, read ignorance, an inability to see due to: lack of education, lack of awareness, knowledge or insight; pride, fear, poor, irrelevant or outdated frame of reference or way of viewing the world. This is a major problem that afflicts the vast majority of people in our world. We may call this poverty of mind or soul.
Secondly, a vast number of people have the insight but not the means or the resource to be able to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves. Many have great ideas but no capital or other resource to take them from the mind to the marketplace. This is material poverty. For others still, the barriers are physical. The insight is there but the physical wherewithal is missing.
By their very nature opportunities are time bound. What bothers me above all else, are those situations where we miss out because we are too slow and therefore late; either because of indolence, ignorance, arrogance or some other avoidable cause.
As in the natural, so it is in the spiritual. We see a number of examples in the Bible of individuals who missed out on life’s opportunities and others who boldly and gladly seized the moment. We have a warning in Isaiah 55:6-7 which says, ‘Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him…’ This is a universal call to the unrepentant sinner to turn to God in repentance. It is a call to a change of mind, heart and direction; from a life of wickedness and all manner of evil to one of humility and submission to God. If you are reading this and you are not a follower of Jesus, the prophetic call to you is to repent and turn to God.
The key message at the heart of the Creator’s call to his creature to repentance is that even though God is everywhere, all-seeing, all-knowing and all-powerful, there is a moment when He is near; when He can hear us. There is a point in time when we must embrace God. To reiterate, if you are not a Christian and you are reading this piece, the Bible says today is the day is the day of salvation; today is the acceptable year of the Lord. Why don’t you pause and, ask God to forgive your sins, and ask Jesus to be your Lord and Saviour. If you have done so, why don’t you pray the prayer at the end of this entry?
I want to mention two other examples from the Bible to further illustrate this idea of a window. The first is in John 4. Jesus and his disciples were on a journey. We read that he felt constrained to go through a particular route. En route he met a woman at a well who had an interesting past, for want of a better expression. His disciples had gone away to buy food. When they returned they found Him in conversation with this woman. Jesus was hungry and thirsty; His disciples pressed Him to eat. He said to them that His food was to do the will of Him who had sent Him, and to finish it. Later on He made reference to the fact there was great urgency in relation to the harvest field; as the crop was ready but the labourers were few. This was a season; a window of opportunity for reaping the harvest of souls; of bringing people into God’s kingdom.
We see the same sense of urgency in John 9. Jesus was travelling with his disciples when they came across a man who had been blind from birth. The disciples asked a deeply theological question; seeking to elicit from Jesus the reasons behind the man’s terrible condition. Jesus’ response was interesting; having stated that the man’s state was not due to his or his parent’s sin, He went to say this: ‘I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.’ (John 9:4). Jesus’ answer again focuses on the need that He must move with a sense of urgency in the fulfilment of His mission, as time was limited. Just as nightfall signals natural end of each working day; our work on earth ceases with death or the second coming of Jesus.
The application is obvious. What about you? Are you one of those who put things off? Stop, because procrastination is the thief of time and killer of destiny. Above all, today is the day of salvation; the day to make peace with God through His Son Jesus Christ. Tomorrow may be too late. Make a choice; make a decision to act now. Be alert to the openings that God brings your way and make sure to seize the opportunity of a lifetime in the lifetime of the opportunity.
Copyright Emmanuel Mbakwe 2012©
If you have read this article and you are not a Christian, I would like to invite you to receive Christ as Saviour and Lord in your life by praying this prayer:
‘God in heaven, I acknowledge that I am sinner and deserve to be punished for all the wrongs I have done. I am truly sorry. Thank you for sending your Son Jesus to this world. I believe He lived, died and rose again for my sins. I repent of all past sins and ask you to forgive me because Jesus. I confess and ask Jesus to come into my life and be my Saviour and Lord. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me to obey you and lead me to follow you all the days of my life. Thank you God for giving me eternal life through your Son Jesus. Amen!
If understood and sincerely prayed that prayer, then contact us. One of our team of counsellors would be glad to contact, pray with and offer you further guidance on how you can continue with your new found faith in Jesus. God bless you.
PS: If you have been inspired, provoked or learnt something from this article, why not do any or all of the following: (i) leave some feedback or a comment, either positive or developmental; (ii) recommend it to a friend; (iii) share it with a friend. This will encourage and help me to serve you better, so together we can make a difference in our world.