Make the Most of Every Opportunity
UNCERTAINTY, we all face it…It can be defined as:
“The lack of certainty, a state of limited knowledge where it is impossible to exactly or accurately describe your present situation or the outcome of your future.”
Uncertainty is a natural part of life. Everyone feels it on a daily basis. From big things to small, being uncertain does not mean you are lost or a failure. It just means you're alive
Ephesians 5:15-16 tells us, “Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”
While we KNOW it is important to make the most of every opportunity, sometimes it can be hard to know HOW to make the most of every opportunity
Today we do not face a crisis of information but rather a crisis of meaning…see, we are the most knowledgeable and information loaded generation that has ever lived but in some ways we are the most purposeless and meaningless generation…we have a ton of information, but cannot seem to use that information in a way that brings fulfillment, meaning or purpose to our lives…
We don’t face a crisis of options but rather direction — there is one thing certain, there are many options to choose from…but what’s uncertain is the choice, the decision, the wisdom to know which path to take…our world is not void of options, but its void of the wisdom to choose the right options.
Tucked away in Ecclesiastes 11 are a few verses that help us to have wisdom on the how to make the most of every opportunity even in face of uncertainty…
#1. GIVE THE OPPORTUNITY BACK TO GOD. (v.1)
Send your grain across the seas,
and in time, profits will flow back to you.[a]
2 But divide your investments among many places,[b]
for you do not know what risks might lie ahead.
It might seem counterintuitive but making the most of every opportunity is when we give that opportunity back to God…
Abraham lived with uncertainty…where was he going? Who was going to provide him with a son? Would he be killed, taken into slavery…but the most important part of Abraham’s story was not so much how God gave him an opportunity, but rather Abraham was willing to Give God an opportunity to prove His faithfulness and to deliver His promise.
When we reflect on these stories of the heroes of faith in the Bible, their story isn’t so much about how they made the most of every opportunity, but rather how they gave God the opportunity
Abraham gave God the opportunity to provide the necessary sacrifice and prepare him to be a father of many nations.
Daniel gave God the opportunity to show Himself as the one true God and shut the mouths of some lions
Jospeh gave God the opportunity to use something evil and turn it around for Good.
Peter gave God the opportunity to work the impossible in his life and walk on water.
#2. MAKE ETERNAL INVESTMENTS (v.2)
You have many, many ways to waste your money, but God wants us to use our money to grow. “The earnings of the godly enhance their lives, but evil people squander their money on sin” (Proverbs 10:16 NLT).
We’ve heard it said, you can’t take your money with you when you die. But that doesn’t mean you can’t send it ahead of you.
The Bible says, “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19-20 NLT).
How are you investing the “currencies” of your life?
Your time, talent, energy, your money?
Invest in your worship of God.
Invest in one another.
Invest in the growth of your soul.
Invest in the agenda of heaven.
#3. Don’t look for Perfect Conditions (v.3-6)
3 When clouds are heavy, the rains come down.
Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls.
4 Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.
If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.
5 Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb,[c] so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.
6 Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.
There will always be the opportunity to make excuses.
When the clouds are full, they will empty and so if we focus on the clouds, our lives will be soaked with what’s inside them.
Three Types of Stormy Rain Clouds that we need to stop living under:
- The Critical Rain Cloud will keep us reactive instead of proactive
- The Cynical Rain cloud will keep us limited in perspective.
- The Complaining Rain cloud will keep us ungrateful
Don’t look for the perfect conditions. Don’t look at every rain cloud…the teacher says Get up in the morning, plant your seed, stay busy, till it, work it, stay with it, live with endurance, perseverance and tenacity to not give up…
- Its possible to get distracted in our work
- Its possible to be overwhelmed by difficult circumstances
- Its possible to be timid in the face of the winds of adversity
- Its possible to become idle because of unfavorable conditions
Yet Be decisive. Be determined. Be diligent.
Learn how to dance in the rain instead of cry in the rain
For the last point, let me read the last four verses of this chapter.
7 Light is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning.
8 When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life. But let them also remember there will be many dark days. Everything still to come is meaningless.
9 Young people,[d] it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do. 10 So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless.
#4. Live Like You’re Dying (v.7-10)
What does it mean biblically to live like you’re dying?
Life is Fleeting
Scripture compares the human life to flowers, which quickly withers and blows away in the wind (Job 14:1-2; 1 Peter 1:24). Humans spring up like new grass, but just as quickly fade away (Psalm 37:2; 103:15). Life is vanity, its like a passing shadow, or a vapor in the wind.
Yet, human life is sweet and pleasant…enjoy all your years but remember the days of darkness are coming…death will loom over us…life is fleeting…
The Day of Judgment
Maximize your life while you can because you can’t go back and do it over again. Today is the tomorrow that you were looking for yesterday. But remember: for all of these things God will bring you to judgment (11:9). You and God are going to talk about your choices one day, so live with the end in view. — Tony Evans
If you read the Bible literally and believe what it says, It is a certain fact that Jesus is coming again and He says “I Am Coming Soon!” A large part of the gospels is Jesus telling his disciples to be ready for His return…
Many times when Jesus gave insight into the kingdom of God, he focused not so much on what God would do FOR us, but instead on what he will expect FROM us. And when He starts seeing you use your limitations to the greatest potential, he will give you more opportunity!
Only 3 primary colors to the artist but no limitations to your own creation
Only lines, circles and angles to the architect but yet many beautiful buildings
Only nine digits to the mathematician but yet an infinite number of configurations
Only twelve notes to the musician but many styles of music
So whatever the Lord has given you use it, make the most of every opportunity you have been given today and reflect the image of God that He created you to be!