It doesn’t take a genius to realize that not every opportunity is a heaven-sent one. Anyone who has ventured through the door of an opportunity that seemed promising, only to meet with the sting of regret, can readily agree that just because a door is opened doesn’t mean we should walk through it.
It seems like common sense, especially if your senses have been branded with the failure or devastation of an opportunity gone wrong. But surprisingly, we still tend to so often walk through many doors that we shouldn’t.
In sifting through my own failed opportunities, I’ve learned that it’s because we simply don’t stop to ask before entering in. We are so busy living our lives that we don’t have or make the time to realize that the enemy is in the construction business and employs himself building beautiful doors of opportunity which are designed to lead us away from, not closer to, the life God has planned for us.
Oh they look good, these doors constructed by the enemy! And they are full of promise…but the wrong kind of promise! So we must learn to walk in wisdom. And one way to do that is simply to pause and pray before every opportunity.
The Bible says in Matthew 4 that when Jesus was in the desert, having fasted and prayed for 40 days (imagine the hunger and thirst and weariness He must have been feeling), the devil took his opportunity and laid great temptations before Jesus. Just the kind of things He must have been desiring. Things like food, rising into His appointed place of rulership, and proving His Father’s provision. It must have looked like a great package. It must have seemed like a golden opportunity for someone Who had been fasting a praying for just such things…
Except that Jesus knew whose hand was offering those opportunities. He knew who built those doors, and He was wise enough to refuse them. The hardest part must have been knowing that refusing them meant more suffering for Him and for those He loved. It meant more hardship, more waiting for God’s perfect will in God’s perfect time. It meant passing up the easier route in favor of the longer, harder one. But it also meant life. It also meant refusing the work of the enemy in His life and in the lives of the ones He came to save. So Jesus chose wisely. And refused that which was unwise.
But do you think the devil gave up there? No way! Verse 13 of Luke 4 says that when the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left Him until the next opportunity came (New Living Translation, emphasis mine)! We had better believe that the devil is always looking for his next opportunity to place a door before us that will lead us in a direction which opposes the plans of God in our lives!
The Expanded Bible quotes Romans 13:14 as saying, “Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and forget about satisfying [or give no opportunity to the desires of; or don’t think about ways to gratify] your sinful self…” (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans+13%3A14&version=EXB)
Here is the solution to the endless opportunities the enemy presents us with! Be so rooted in Christ that you give the enemy no opportunity to tempt you with evil desires.
Are you seeing the big picture with me? There is so much taking place in the world today. There is even more taking place in the spiritual world, that world which we have been born into and should be daily becoming more and more aware of. The Bible has much to say about the foolish woman and the choices she makes, to her own destruction and the harm of those around her. But there is a cry in my heart, because it is also the cry of God’s heart, that we as women would rise up into a different kind of womanhood: the kind we have been created to walk in.
This will require that we learn to recognize the doors which are before us, and to both choose the right and refuse the wrong ones. Behind heaven’s doors are promises that bring life and satisfaction. Behind hell’s doors are devastating and painful consequences, and robbers and thieves just waiting to devour all that God has in store for us and those we love.
Today, I caution you to walk in the wisdom of God as you approach doors of opportunity. Don’t believe that every one is for you, from God. Just because it looks good doesn’t mean it is good. But don’t worry that you might be missing out on something great, because the doors which God opens for us are incredible opportunities which no one and nothing can take away from us (Revelation 3:7-8; Isaiah 22:22; 1 Corinthians 16:9; 2 Corinthians 2:12; Isaiah 45:1). If you must refuse what seems to be a golden opportunity because the Spirit of the Lord would forbid you, then trust that He is able to detect fool’s gold, and to lead you to the true treasure!
Woman of Breakthrough, it is far better to wait for and trust in the Lord’s opportunities than to put your confidence in what man or the world can offer you. God has eternity in mind. Don’t trade that for any golden moment in the present! Ask God for wisdom, and He will give it to you. Then go through His open doors, and rejoice in those which have been closed for your own good. In this you will begin to see a new kind of life, full of joy and free of regret!
{Images courtesy of http://www.pixabay.com}
She Dances Over Graves 