- Pastor Mike
Praying For The Opportunity
Updated: Jan 11, 2022
Lately, I have been thinking about the opportunity that God has given His Church in the middle of this pandemic. It may not seem like a huge opportunity, but it’s there. I am learning in my life, God places opportunities in front of me to be used for His glory, the question I have to ask myself is “Do I see it?” There’s a lot of Mazda’s in the Capital Region, yes the car. When we got our Mazda with the black rims and the white paint job, I thought that we were unique. In my mind, I could not recall ever seeing someone’s Mazda CX5 like that. It was slick, new, drove great and I even felt a little fancy. But, once I purchased it and starting driving my unique car that no one else has, something interesting happened. I started to see a lot of other Mazda CX5’s that looked exactly the same. I quickly realized it wasn’t special or unique. Now, what’s interesting about this is that I thought that I was going to be the only person with this exact car. It wasn’t until I became aware of what my car looked like, that I realized the number of cars that looked exactly the same on the road. Once I became more aware of my surroundings, I started to see what I was looking for. I’m sure this is something that you have experienced as well. Think about when you start planning a vacation, or you want to go on a trip. Then all of a sudden, you see all these things about vacations around you. The truth is, it’s always been there. But now you are just more likely to see what you are interested in. The same thing is true when it comes to our relationship with God and other people, especially during this pandemic. When we pray for God to give us opportunities to be the salt and light to our world, the more opportunities we’ll get. It gives us the ability to see past our own challenges and to become sensitive to the need, hurt, and hopelessness around us. There are opportunities all around us. Opportunities to bless people, to be nice, to open the door for someone, to wear a mask when around someone who is vulnerable, to pick up the trash, or groceries for someone who can’t safely go to the store, to pray with the homeless person, to love our spouse, the list goes on and on. The opportunity is there, the question is, Do You See It? I want to challenge you to take a moment at the start of your day and simply pray, “God, help me to see the opportunities that you are placing around me.” When we pray and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal opportunities to us, He will start to highlight different things, people, and opportunities to us. Then it comes down to us, will we obey? When we have doubts, I want to encourage you to just step out in faith. See what God can do. Maybe it is just praying for someone, buying someone a meal, or lending a helping hand. Step out and see what God can do.