Opportunity Stewardship
One of the subplots of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day is seizing opportunities. In fact, the subtitle is How to Survive and Thrive when Opportunity Roars.
When Benaiah crossed paths with a lion (II Samuel 23:20) he didn't see a five-hundred pound problem. He heard opportunity roar. Scripture says he chased the lion into a pit and killed it (NLT). In a Pit tells the story of how Benaiah went on to become King David's bodyguard and eventually Commander-in-Chief of Israel's army. But it all traces back to one of the most improbable episodes recorded in Scripture--a man chasing a lion.
Anywho.
I think we underestimate the importance of seeing and seizing God-ordained opportunities. I think it is the heart of spiritual maturity.
I just read a fascinating study in A Whack on the Side of the Head by Roger Von Oech. He cites a study done by a business school on its graduates and it found that their book smart graduates were outperformed by their street-smart competitors. And the main conclusion of the study was this: The book smart business people were taught how to solve problems not recognize opportunities.
Part of me wonders if that is part of the problem in some of our churches? We're focused on holiness by subtraction--solving sin problems. And that is certainly part of the holiness equation. But maybe we ought to focus on holiness by multiplication--recognizing opportunities. That is what the parables of talents is all about.
For what it's worth, often the biggest opportunities look like five hundred pound problems.
"Make the most of every opportunity."
Colossians 4:5
When Benaiah crossed paths with a lion (II Samuel 23:20) he didn't see a five-hundred pound problem. He heard opportunity roar. Scripture says he chased the lion into a pit and killed it (NLT). In a Pit tells the story of how Benaiah went on to become King David's bodyguard and eventually Commander-in-Chief of Israel's army. But it all traces back to one of the most improbable episodes recorded in Scripture--a man chasing a lion.
Anywho.
I think we underestimate the importance of seeing and seizing God-ordained opportunities. I think it is the heart of spiritual maturity.
I just read a fascinating study in A Whack on the Side of the Head by Roger Von Oech. He cites a study done by a business school on its graduates and it found that their book smart graduates were outperformed by their street-smart competitors. And the main conclusion of the study was this: The book smart business people were taught how to solve problems not recognize opportunities.
Part of me wonders if that is part of the problem in some of our churches? We're focused on holiness by subtraction--solving sin problems. And that is certainly part of the holiness equation. But maybe we ought to focus on holiness by multiplication--recognizing opportunities. That is what the parables of talents is all about.
For what it's worth, often the biggest opportunities look like five hundred pound problems.
"Make the most of every opportunity."
Colossians 4:5
2 Comments:
Great blog. I agree wholeheartedly that often times our greatest hinderences are not that we commit sin but that we focus on what not to do, and less on what we should do. I think Exhortation, sharpening each other, true fellowship is the answer.
Keep up the great E-votionals
My first time on a blog site, I read your piece in the Va. Pilot 8/12 and very impressed. I am a older christion who is fasinated by how God is reaching out thru people like you. Keep on as God is on your side.{What a great adventure we will have in heaven.} B.G.
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