When Opportunities Appear - Part 1

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Tuesday, November 9th. Scripture tells us that the Lord is clothed in splendor and majesty, and yet He wants us to talk with Him and to know Him intimately. Let's learn to appreciate the privilege believers have to interact with Jesus. We are continually being confronted with all kinds of opportunities, and yet a lot of folks just walk right through life and miss most of them for the simple reason. They're not looking.

They're not expecting. They sort of see themselves as sort of outside the realm of the blessings of God, and maybe once in a while they'll sense a little bit. That's not the way life is, because you see, God gives us opportunities to guide us and to lead us. He also makes our life very interesting and exciting as a result of opportunities, because nobody likes sameness.

Sameness creates a dullness, and when we have opportunities that challenge us, they oftentimes stretch us, we begin to be excited about things in life that we didn't even know existed. And of all the people who ought to be sensitive to opportunities, God's children should be. We have the Holy Spirit living inside of us, giving us direction. He's the one who gives us a spiritual eye to see these things that other people do not see. And when you think about the fact that you and I have trusted Christ as our Savior, He is our very life. We go into heaven when we die, but He has an exciting life down here before He takes us home, because we have the privilege of walking with Him, living with Him, listening to Him, absorbing Him, understanding Him, getting a glimpse of what God is really all about. You say, well, you know, now I've been a Christian a pretty good while, but I never thought about having all these opportunities.

Well, you do. And what I want to do in this message is give you a series of opportunities from the Scripture that will give you an idea that maybe you're missing some opportunities in your life. If you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, so far you have missed the most important opportunity you will ever have. And I trust that before this time is over, you'll make a decision, you'll take advantage of the opportunity of trusting Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. All of these passages are familiar on purpose.

I try to choose the ones that I think most people would be conscious of. And so, I want to begin with the first one in John chapter six, if you'll turn there. John chapter six, and it's a passage that most people are familiar with. And it just so happens, this is the only miracle that Jesus performed that's found in all four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And so, if you'll notice beginning in this first verse, Scripture says, After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the sea of Galilee to Tiberias.

Trying to get away from the crowds. A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick. Then Jesus went up on the mountains, and there He sat down with His disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, He said to Philip, Where are we to buy bread so that these may eat?

This He was saying to test Him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. So, Philip answered Him and said, Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little. One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they among so many? Jesus said, Have the people sit down. Now there was much grass in the place, and so the men sat down in the number which was about five thousand.

So, if you add all the ladies to that, it had a big crowd. Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated, likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted. When they were filled, He said to His disciples, Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost.

So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, which were left over by those who had eaten. Therefore, when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, This is true to the prophet who has come into the world. They said, Well, what's that got to do with opportunities?

Well, let's think about it for a moment. When that little boy left home that morning, the only thing he knew is he was going to find Jesus, and he wanted to be in the crowd, and he wanted to hear what he had to say. And so, little did he realize that on this day, he would experience the greatest opportunity of his lifetime. But he didn't know that. And so, when Jesus asked for his bread and his fish, and He gave it to him, and he began to multiply it, he saw a miracle take place right before his eyes. Two thousand years later, we're still talking about the little boy who had five loaves and two fish.

Why? Because he took advantage of an opportunity. He could have kept the five loaves and two fish for himself. He could have.

But he said, No, I'm willing to give them up. He had the opportunity to give away something that he had, and what happened was that God performed a miracle. And He performed a miracle right in front of that little lad.

He would never see anything to match that in his entire life. So, what did he do? He simply took advantage of an opportunity. And more than likely, you walk right by opportunities every day.

You don't plan, you couldn't, you wouldn't know it, but there it is staring you in the face, the opportunity to do one of a number of things. What I want you to see in these passages is this. God wants us to learn to be alert to His opportunities, because one of the ways He guides us and leads us in our life is He guides us and leads us by opportunities. He gives us an opportunity to go here.

We go there. We hear something that changes our life. Or, we may see something that we think, well, one of these days maybe I could possibly enjoy something like that, and God begins to open the door. You see, He creates desires within our heart. Does He not say that if we delight ourselves in Him that He will give us the desires of our heart? God's a good God.

He's a God of opportunities. He wants to see us interested in life. When people who call themselves Christians are bored with life and are sort of dissatisfied, living in a rut, there's something wrong with your vision. Around you, in front of you, there are opportunities to do things that, listen, they would turn your life inside out, upside down, and right side up, because that's who He is. Listen, a bored Christian is a bad testimony. An exciting Christian is a powerful testimony. There are opportunities all around you if you stop and open your eyes and think and become alert. Alert to what God wants to do in your life and maybe what God wants to do in somebody else's life. When you go to work tomorrow morning, you will have an opportunity to say something, do something, act in a certain way that God, listen, will make you a blessing and the person or the business you help. In other words, He's full of opportunities for us. Think about this.

You have eight hours that you work or you have twenty-four hours in a day. Does God just want you to sort of flounder around and walk around? No. He has opportunities that He provides for you to seize for your own good and to be a blessing. Now, there's a second passage I want you to notice here, because when I think about all these different ones, and this is certainly one, that some people say, oh, He would never do that. But I want you to turn to Matthew chapter four for a moment. And the day before probably, Peter has, he's watched this awesome miracle that Jesus has performed when He was standing on the seashore trying to teach and they were crowding Him into the water. So, He says, could I borrow your boat, Peter?

So, He said, sure. And you remember, He took him out for a little fishing trip and the nets couldn't hold the fish. Now, on this day, Jesus walks by and says, follow Me and I'll make you fishes of men.

Well, first of all, let's see who Peter was. Peter was a very successful fisherman. He and Andrew together and their friends, James and John, they were successful fishermen. And the Sea of Galilee was flourishing with fish in those days.

So, they didn't need anything. They were very successful fishermen. So, Jesus comes along and says, follow Me, and I'll make you fishes of men. All of a sudden, Peter was facing an unbelievable opportunity. To him, at first, I'm sure it was a challenge. You want me to leave everything, boats, nets, everything in my fishing business and follow you.

How are we going to make a living? In other words, he had a thousand questions. He was confronted with an opportunity he did not expect. He would have said, I'm totally unprepared to do this.

There's no way you could be asking me to do something like this. Now, the reason I'm saying this is because God still works in the same way. He still works in the same way. He will confront you with an opportunity you're not prepared for in your thinking. He'll confront you with an opportunity that may scare you at first. So, Peter had a choice to make, and he and Andrew, more than likely, they looked at each other and thought, what's this all about? And probably they had to have a little conversation between them. Naturally, they followed him.

We know that. But look at the opportunity they had. They had an opportunity to follow the Son of God and to become an apostle and to be walking by His side to defend Him and to preach the truth that He was preaching and the message that He would send around the world. He would never have imagined the fact that His name would be repeated thousands and thousands and thousands of times every single Sunday in the world, worldwide. And they would have a chance to be a follower of Jesus Christ. And they would have a chance to be a fisherman.

Who was he? He wasn't prepared to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Listen, Jesus will oftentimes give you opportunities in your life that you do not feel qualified for. I didn't say you weren't qualified. I said you'd feel it. Or you don't feel like it fits you.

That's what you feel. He will never give you an opportunity that He doesn't want you to be a follower of Jesus Christ. He will never give you an opportunity that He doesn't want you to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

He will never give you an opportunity that He doesn't want you to feel well at it. There are opportunities all around us, and this was an opportunity to serve the Lord. Peter was alert to this opportunity because what happened?

He laid it all down. He followed Jesus. He took advantage of the greatest opportunity he could ever have had, and that is to be one of the close followers of Jesus Christ.

When he wanted to get the small group with him, Peter was always there. He could have still been fishing if he had missed the opportunity, if he had rationalized it away, if he'd have said, no, I can't do that. And I'm simply saying, when God calls you to do something, it's an opportunity. It isn't just a responsibility. It isn't just a calling from God. It is an opportunity to serve the living God.

Tell me something any higher in life than that. You say, well, serve Him how? It doesn't make any difference what He called you to do. For example, every choir member's important, every teacher. In other words, every single person's important. What He called you to do is important in the eyes of God. So, if you're alert, you're not going to be saying, well, that's not an opportunity.

Yes, it is. All right, let's look at something else here. Because I just want you to see all the different kinds of opportunities that God may send you away. Now, here's one, and listen carefully. I want you to listen very carefully because you're going to think, well, what's that?

Every woman in here will identify with this. Look in Luke chapter ten, for example, and this is one day Jesus is traveling along and He and His disciples. Can you imagine Jesus sending somebody along? He was always sending messages before He was going somewhere. And can you imagine Him coming to your house and saying, well, let me tell you, the Master has said, we're coming to lunch at your house.

Who's we? Well, Jesus and all twelve of us, thirteen. Now, the Bible doesn't say that, but it implies that. They must have been preparing, and so look, if you will, in this thirty-eighth verse of this tenth chapter of Luke. Scripture says, Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She was the elder one of the two. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord's feet listening to His word.

But Martha was distracted with all her preparations, and so she came up to Him and said, Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Can You identify with that? Some of you can.

The others can, but you won't admit it. Then tell her to help me. But the Lord answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you're worried and bothered about so many things, but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her. Now, when Jesus showed up, Mary immediately saw this awesome opportunity to be close to Him, to listen to Him, to learn from Him, to watch Him, to feel His love, to be sensitive to Him. She saw this as an opportunity. Now, it would have been fine if Martha had come sit down beside her. In other words, food to Jesus wasn't really all that important when they finished. They'd kind of gone ahead and finished with the meal. But Martha couldn't handle that. Mary saw that as an opportunity. Now, I want you to listen carefully.

She saw it as an opportunity to get to know Him better, to learn what He's really like on a one-to-one basis where just the two of you are talking. Wouldn't you have loved to sit down with Jesus? Just you and Him, and just talk and listen to Him. In fact, not much talking about a whole lot of listening. And feel His compassion and His love.

Let me talk to you about an opportunity you have. You can open this book and you can read some of the things that Jesus said. You can see how He responded. You can see how He treated people.

You can see how He forgave. You can learn an enormous amount sitting in the presence of Jesus Christ by yourself if necessary with an open Word of God. Listen, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, four gospels that tell us everything that God knew we needed to know about what Jesus said, how He responded in situations and circumstances. She didn't have a bit more opportunity than we had.

In fact, we have a better opportunity because she was caught up in her society, in the surroundings in which she lived, and the age in which she lived. You and I have two thousand years of history and experience, and we have this awesome book called, The Word of God, the Bible, so that everything I need to know about Him is in here. Now, let me ask you a question. Are you taking advantage of that opportunity? Do you start your day with the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word? Do you begin the day reading His Word and asking Him to give you direction for the day and to give you guidance and to make you sensitive to His will and His purpose and His plan, make you sensitive to opportunities that come your way? In other words, do you begin the day sitting at the feet of Jesus?

You say, oh, I can't. You have the Holy Spirit living inside of you. You have the Word of God lying before you. You can talk to the Lord Jesus Christ personally, and He listens to you personally.

He'll meet every single need that you have. He'll give you guidance and direction. He'll bring you to some passage, something that He said, or maybe something that one of His apostles said, to give you guidance for that day. You have the same opportunity that Mary had, only you have it a little bit better.

Because her, watch this, her conversation with Jesus was limited. Your conversation with Jesus and His Word is unlimited. You can read as long as you want to. You can come back to it during the day or at nighttime. You can wake up in the middle of the night and you can talk to Him.

He's listening. You have that opportunity. Probably one of the greatest sins of believers today is that we are too busy to seize the opportunity of spending time with the Son of God, which affects every aspect of your life. Now, you spend time with your wife or your husband, your children. You spend time with your friend.

You either play golf or you fish or you do this or you do that, whatever group you may belong to. How much time do you spend with the Son of God that you take advantage of the most wonderful opportunity you could possibly have? If you're under conviction, that is the proper response to this message for the simple reason you have an opportunity.

Listen, nobody's going to take that away from you, at least now. You have an opportunity with Him every day. Thank you for listening to When Opportunities Appear. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia. ...