1/17/2014 God Given OpportunitiesScriptures: Numbers 14:22-24, Numbers 14: 32-34, Numbers 14:40-42
There is a story of an East Coast town that was struggling financially and a town meeting was held to discuss options for their future. A stranger came and sat in the back. He began to speak to the group and was quickly cut off, he got up to leave and another man came in the door. He stopped the meeting to ask if the man who had left was going to help their needy town. The man was John J. Rockefeller. He had docked his yacht at the town and was doing some sight-seeing. All the town could do was watch their opportunity sail away. Ask yourself: Am I working with God to create my life? Have God-given opportunities come your way, but you've been too caught up with other things that you have let them slip through your fingers? Are you pre-occupied with your personal preferences? We must be sensitive to the blessings God brings our way. Numbers 14 is God's response to the Israelites who chose not to accept the opportunity God offered to them. The Israelites chose not to enter the promised land, because their fear was more powerful than their faith in God. Living in the wilderness felt more secure than adventuring into the land God had promised them. Their actions and words angered God and He responded quickly. Forty years they would wander in the wilderness until they all died. God gave them their personal preference. The Israelites would not work with God to create a better life. God wants to work with you to help you create a better life. These are life's special moments: times in our lives which are full of God given opportunities. These moments define our future because they are full of God's promises. At these moments all kinds of emotions can exist in our minds: fear of change, negative memories or the desire to seize the opportunity! We also read that Israel was ready to accept God's offer the very next day, but here is where the story becomes even sadder: it was too late. The blessing would never come around again and what they were left with was a wilderness of regret. This is a year of God given opportunities. God determines the time and the blessing, we decide to participate. So you are left with two options: seize the opportunities God makes available to you or become pre-occupied with your personal preferences. Will you work with God to create a better life? Or will you allow a God given opportunity slip through your fingers? Comments are closed.
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