Seize the
Opportunity
May 19, 2003
Webster tells us that an opportunity is a
"favorable juncture of circumstances." In other words, an
opportunity occurs when the elements needed for progress come
together at the same time.
The great English playwright and poet William
Shakespeare described strategic moments that must be grabbed:
There is a tide
in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyages of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.
In the ancient world, ships would enter a harbor
at high tide and receive cargo. Once loaded, a heavy vessel
couldn't depart until the next high tide. If the captain failed
to set sail during the high tide, he would miss the chance to
leave port. Similarly, when the tide is high, you must board the
ship and begin the voyage. The tide won't wait--and neither will
strategic opportunities. When the circumstances for success
merge you must act.
Solomon noted in Ecclesiastes 3:1 that, "There is
a time for everything, and a season for every activity under
heaven." What we need is the wisdom to know what activity is
appropriate for a specific season of our life. And then we need
the motivation to seize the opportunity. The enemy we must deal
with is procrastination. Again it was Solomon who noted that the
procrastinator, or sluggard, allows opportunities to pass away
by telling himself, "A little sleep, a little slumber, a little
folding of the hands to rest." (Proverbs 6:10)
You see the logic of the procrastinator, don't
you? He believes a "little" delay will do no harm. Tragically,
he gives away opportunities in seconds and minutes which flow
into days, months and years.
Right now you face opportunities that will soon evaporate . . .
a chance to play with a young child; listen to a teenager or
support him/her in an athletic, artistic, or academic endeavor;
a chance to listen to your wife at an emotional level; an
opportunity to grow daily in your relationship with God.
Don't allow the high tide to pass without setting
sail. You'll never regret seizing an opportunity that will soon
be gone.
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