Tuesday, January 4, 2022 Some information taken from Facing Opportunity
See, I have placed the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to them and their descendants after them. Deuteronomy 1:8 …
Don’t Miss This Opportunity
Have you ever missed an opportunity? Then sometime after it is gone that feeling hits you - that feeling of knowing that you have just missed something - that you have just let something slip through your fingers that you are going to be sorry about. God does send opportunities our way but He doesn’t force us into stepping into them. We may miss a lot of opportunities He sets before us and some we have get a second chance at, but some are just gone after the first round.
The Children of Israel and their “adventure” in the wilderness is a God given example for us to see exactly what happens when we don’t step into an opportunity that God sets before us. God gave them a “Canaan-Land” opportunity, illustrated to us in the story in Numbers 13-14. There we read the story of the people of Israel when God called them to rise up and take possession of the Land of Canaan that He had promised to them.
God gives us Canaan-Land opportunities today as well. A Canaan-Land Opportunity is truly an “opportunity.” It is a favorable or suitable occasion or time. It is a good chance for advancement or progress. It is a favorable or advantageous circumstance or combination of circumstances. The Children of Israel had this opportunity put before them.
Maybe there is a great and wonderful challenge that God is placing before you — something that He is calling you to do. It is your Canaan-Land Opportunity. It is something that is bigger than you can do in your own power. But it's something that God, in His mercy, is calling you to do by faith. There is great blessing from Him on the other side of your faithfully doing this. It's a gift of His grace to you in Christ that requires that you rise up and boldly seize.
The question we are faced with is will we choose to step into this opportunity, or will we stay where we are? God always desires to finish what He starts in us. We are the ones who get in the way and we keep ourselves from fulfilling His purpose in our lives. This is exactly what happened to the Children of Israel. They got in the way and ended up in the wilderness a lot longer than they were supposed to, and as a result, a whole generation did not get to enjoy the blessing from God.
What do you need to give back to Him this year? What do you need to hand over and let Him finish what He started in you? What do you need to shake off - what condemnation and lies from the devil? We don’t have to carry this anymore because we have a holy God who saves us, even in our sinfulness. His holiness overcomes our human nature and saves us.
This year let Him finish what He started in you. This year bravely step into your “Canaan-Land” opportunity and receive the blessing He has for you. This is the year for you to make the choice to be changed, not stay the same.
