Opportunities and Blessings

(1Corinthians 16:9 Message)  A huge door of opportunity for good work has opened up here.

Over the years I have noticed that when opportunities and blessings come they seem to come in bunches. But on the other hand when one really needs an opportunity or blessing they appear to be in short supply. It reminds me of the old saying, “It’s chicken one day and feathers the next.”

As a matter of fact I thought a lot about this chicken and feather business over the years to see if there really was some sort of a rhythm to receiving opportunities and blessing…but with no success. I suppose my reason for searching for a rhythm was so I could be as wise as Joseph in the Bible who balanced out his lean years with his blessed years.

What I discovered was our New Testament covenant provided us the benefit of being filled with the Spirit of Wisdom which is the greatest opportunity and treasure of all. I have always had the desire to be wise more than I have had the desire to be smart.

Perhaps searching for rhythms or methods in the Scripture is not God’s will for us in the first place because otherwise we would not be living by faith. We would be operating in man’s reasoning and not God’s wisdom. This of course would impair our spiritual growth and cause us to think there is something mystical about our blessings and opportunities when there is not.

The fact is…there is nothing at all mystical about the blessings of God because He said, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” (3John 1:2). 

I also realize that it is every father’s desire to fulfill Proverbs 13:22 where it says, “A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.”

Inheriting a financial blessing is wonderful, but I would much rather have the spiritual blessing of wisdom so I could recognize the opportunities and blessings that surround me. Elisha said when his servant was afraid of the army that was surrounding them, “Fear not for they that be with us are more than they that be with them” (2Kings 6:16).

My wife, Karen, was reading the newspaper the other morning and stopped and looked at me over the top of the paper and said, “Why do they always put the jobs next to the obituaries?”

In other words, the obituary seemed to imply that because of this death there is now a job opportunity. Such an idea is ridiculous and it was certainly not the intent of the newspaper to even imply such a thing…and I agree.

However, the opportunities and blessings of God (for those who love Him), are not governed by one’s death, but by the abundance of His grace and mercy. In other words as our text said “A huge door of opportunity for good work has opened up here.”

Father,

Thank You for allowing us to experience the blessings of heaven right where we stand. Teach us Lord how to reach out and receive what has already been given to us without searching for a rhythm and a method that would satisfy our natural mind.

Amen