The word opportunity comes from the Latin “ob portu” meaning “for port.” Before modern harbors ships had to wait for the incoming tide to enter the port. Thus, we read Shakespeare’s line from Julius Caesar: “There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat; And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures.” Another image related to opportunity is the open and closed door. Alexander Graham Bell said, “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” Warren W. Wiersbe explains, “[Paul] was an apostle, yet he did not always know the direction God wanted him to take. He took steps, God closed doors, so he waited; and then God showed him the way (Acts 16:6-10).” Paul recounts, “For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Corinthians 16:9). Paul exhorted the believers in Colossae, “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak” (Colossians 4:2-4).

Let me ask three questions related to God-given opportunity.

Are you seeking God-given opportunities with Scriptural purpose? This involves your desire. Remember Jesus prayed, “not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39) in the garden of Gethsemane. In the words of A.C. Palmer:

“Ready to go, ready to stay,

Ready my place to fill;

Ready for service lowly or great,

Ready to do His will.”

Are you seeing God-given opportunities with spiritual perception? This involves your discernment. In 1 Chronicles 12:32 we read about “the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.” In other words, they had discernment. The practice of discernment is highlighted in 1 Corinthians 2:12-16. Paul warns, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Are you seizing God-given opportunities with supernatural passion? This involves your duty. O.S. Hawkins explains, “We are what we are in part because of what we do with opportunities that come our way. For some time now, Nehemiah had prayed and planned and prepared. When the door cracked open, he seized his opportunity and requested to be sent back to Judah and become the agent of rebuilding.” John Mason says, “Opportunity is often lost in deliberation.”

Believer, may you continue seeking, seeing and seizing God-given opportunities in these perilous times.

Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey, of Robertsdale, is the author of "Don't Miss the Revival! Messages for Revival and Spiritual Awakening from Isaiah.