Passing on an Opportunity

It is said that "opportunity only knocks once."  The implication is that you have to answer it because you will miss the opportunity if you don't.  Of course, like many things that are said, "it ain't necessarily so."  That particular moment of opportunity will only knock once but another opportunity momentt may well be aound the corner.

I was afforded an opportunity to come on staff with Arkansas Hospice back in 2006, which I felt I had to turn down.  I was given another opportunity to accept a staff position in 2008 but felt I had to say no again.  In 2009, another opportunity was presented and I gratefully accepted it.  I passed my 5 year mark last month.  Moments of opportunity only come once but opportunities can come again and again.  You don't necessarily need to jump on one the first moment it is presented.

Secondly and more importantly, just because an opportunty knocks doesn't mean that it is even wise or good to open the door for it.  How many times have you jumped on an opportunity only to land in a pile of manure?  The prisons are full of individuals who jumped on an opportunity, cemeteries have a fare share as well.  I wonder how many ENRON stock holders jumped on an opportunity to invest?

When David, who had been anointed to be king, was being chased by King Saul, he had an opportunity to strike Saul dead.  The warrior at his side, Abishai, offered to thrust the spear himself.  This was a golden opportunity where Saul was asleep and they had sneaked into the camp unnoticed. David could have dethroned Saul and assumed whatt was ordained to be his.  But he refused saying, "The Lord himself will destroy him, or his time will come and he will die, or he will perish in battle.  But far be it from me that I should lay a hand on the Lord's anointed" (1 Sam 26:9-10).

David passed on the opportunity of the moment  knowing that God would present another one in which he would not have to slay the Lord's anointed.  He did not believe it would be the lastt opportunity for Saul to be taken and neither did he think it was an opporttunity he should take advantage of.  He would wait on the Lord's timing.

We are so conditioned to jump on opportunities, believeing they will never come again that we often do not wait for God to provide an answer, we move on our urges and our wants instead of answered prayer or study of the Word.  We wind up doing what we want but not wanting what we got because we hastily left God out of the equation.  Sometimes, we just need to pass on an opportunity for the moment in defference to a later opportunity ordained by God.  Jus' Sayn.