Opportunity Dilemma

“The Lord said to Moses, ‘How long will these people despise Me? How long will they not trust in Me despite all the signs I have performed among them?” (Numbers 14:11 CSB) “When I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ, a door was opened to me by the Lord. I had no rest in my spirit because I did not find my brother Titus, but I said good-bye to them and left for Macedonia.” (2 Corinthians 2:12-13 CSB)

Opportunities abound for the people of God, but sometimes an opportunity may also present a dilemma. Shall we take advantage of the opportunity, or should we not?

Moses led Israel to the brink of the promised land, and at the Lord’s direction sent spies to check out the land. They all brought back a glowing report about the land, but they brought a negative report about the people. They saw some very large people in the land, and that caused them to see themselves as “grasshoppers” by comparison. Caleb and Joshua urged that they move ahead and trust the Lord to give them the land, but on that day fear won out. The people talked about stoning Moses and Aaron and choosing a new leader who would take them back to Egypt. Faith lost out to fear that time. The people paid a huge price for their lack of faith and vision. They wandered in the desert 40 years, until all of that generation age 20 and up died in the wilderness.

Paul the apostle once went to the city of Troas, looking for Titus his co-worker and brother in the Lord. The Lord opened a great door of opportunity for an effective ministry in Troas, but Paul was so uneasy in his spirit because of not finding Titus that he had to decline the opportunity until he could find his brother. In this instance, his relationship with his brother in Christ took precedence, so he departed Troas to go on to Macedonia to find Titus. Sometimes God gives an opportunity, but it is not always His will that we take advantage of the opportunity.

What we have here are two equally valid biblical stories about opportunities. Neither were taken, but for different reasons. One was declined because people allowed their fears to overcome their faith in God. One was declined because a spiritual relationship had a greater priority than the opportunity. One decision was sinful, and the other was not. Interestingly, in that same city of Troas years earlier, Paul saw a vision from the Lord that led him to take the opportunity to introduce the gospel into Europe for the first time.

When opportunity comes, how can we discern if it is from the Lord, and be certain that we should proceed?

First, we need an awareness that the Lord is leading us toward the opportunity. This awareness is not whimsy. It is not the product of imagination, but it is a genuine opportunity that comes about in ways that tell us it is not of our own doing. Leaders see this, and they “hear” the Lord speaking about it and urging them forward.

Second, the opportunity needs to be one that challenges and calls us to a deeper faith. It enables us to develop our walk with God and with one another. The opportunity makes it obvious that only by proceeding in faith can it be achieved, and we know already that God wants our faith and trust in Him to deepen.

Third, the opportunity should bear the marks of relationality, in that it offers us the chance to deepen our relationships with one another. Relationships have to take priority. Of course, the relationship we each have with the Lord takes the highest priority, but the fellowship and relationships among God’s people is also a high priority. God wants those relationships to be strengthened.

Fourth, the opportunity should represent great forward progress in the work of God’s kingdom. God’s priority is the growth of His kingdom. That was foremost in the thinking of Jesus, and it should be the same for us.

Fifth, after reviewing all the pros and cons of an opportunity, we can be sure it is genuinely from the Lord when we are convinced in our hearts and minds that this is the leading of the Holy Spirit, that it is the will of God, that it is the right thing to do.

In the long run, if God wants us to follow Him into an opportunity, we dare not shrink back in fear, and if He does not want us to take an opportunity, we dare not presume to take it. The bottom line is that we must seek Him, His will, and to the best of our understanding follow Him in faith. “Now faith is the reality [certainty] of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 CSB)

Lord, In each opportunity that comes our way, help us to understand and discern Your will and make decisions that will glorify You. Amen.