Opportunity Knocks . . . Or Does It?

Mike Hosey, An Elder

Opportunity is best defined as a set of circumstances that make it possible for something to happen. For instance, if you develop a great computer idea that no one else has, and meet a childhood friend with great business savvy who is also interested in computers, there exists an opportunity for you to become one of the wealthiest and most influential people in the world. That’s a bit how Paul Allen and Bill Gates of Microsoft fame became the household names they are.

But opportunity is a tricky thing. It doesn’t always make itself easily known. Unfortunately, the adage that we should open the door when opportunity knocks isn’t a good one. Afterall, how do you know when it’s opportunity knocking and not something nefarious? Well, instead of waiting for opportunity to knock, it might be better to get on the other side of the door and seek it out.  Of course, this has problems as well.  As Thomas Edison noted, most people miss opportunity because it often comes dressed in overalls and looks like work! Edison’s wisdom is profound. If you don’t look for opportunity you will never see it, and if you don’t see it you won’t engage it, and if you don’t engage it, you won’t reap its potential. In other words, Edison is telling us that if you aren’t willing to work on multiple levels, then opportunity is a shadow, and a cruel time-wasting fantasy. The truth is that opportunity is everywhere. There is always, and all around us, sets of circumstances that make things possible.  These possibilities can be either good or bad.  If we look for opportunities to do things that waste our time and harm us, they easily can be found.  If we look for things that can edify us, edify our brothers and sisters, or that can advance the kingdom of God, they easily can be found. Think about it for a second.  No matter how many good things exist in your life, it is highly likely that opportunities to complain will abound if your mind is attuned to complaint -- despite the resources at your fingers. But in the same life, opportunities to better yourself more will also exist, and you’ll have the resources to engage the opportunities. In the poorest of lives, where opportunities seem few, and hardships many, some people shun complaining and rise to higher levels.

Paul cements these truths when he commands us to take opportunity to do good to everyone, explaining that if we nurture our flesh, we’ll get corruption, but if we nurture our spirit, we’ll get life (Galatians 6:6-10).