Never Miss an Opportunity
Wednesday, January 10th, 2007I have been thinking about the fact that I am so lucky. I have had opportunities to live and learn that are far greater than I deserve. It now seems it might be good to share by praising and giving thanks for my opportunities. Obviously I can not cover everything but there is a series of recent events that have changed my life and I feel eager to share the blessing.
Many years ago I had the opportunity to be at deaths door. I was very sick and had been for awhile. No real understanding could be found to describe it but all types of scary stuff was suspected. At one point something went really wrong and I never made it to call for help. Long story short I had an experience that changed the way I look at life. This is not to say that I was suddenly all better. I was not. I struggled to live for years. But I took things into my own hands. Once I claimed control over recovery I then turned to God for direction. Slowly over the following years I made progress and was slightly better every year. At about 7 to 8 years into my recovery I started to see progress coming much faster. In just a few more years I was finally back to my old self maybe slightly better.
Many People would not consider this an opportunity but it really was. I was shown my own mortality and shown how to trust God and follow him step by step to gain my recovery. These are lessons that some people never learn. Slowly as I worked to improve I learned that my wants and desires were the enemy of my success. There was a plan to get more for me than I could conceive. There was better stuff than I wanted that I was supposed to have. In hind site my rate of progress has been directly related to the extend of my submission with respect to my will in determining what I wanted. I look back at things in life and feel foolish for ever caring about useless stupid things. I can point to treasures I threw away and garbage I fought to keep. No longer. None of the usual stuff seems important anymore. In fact I will never go back to the old way of looking at things. I realize now just how important people are and why God loves them so much. I see beauty and glory in people. It is really easy to see. Why do we ignore it? I have no idea. Don’t get me wrong there are “evil people” that are consumed by selfishness and that is not pretty. But this type of ugly is not as severe as you might think and it to can be corrected if the person is not too far gone.
I just want to say thanks to God for letting me have this opportunity to learn these lessons. I also want to encourage you the reader to realize that much of what bothers you right now can be your opportunity if you use it. Trust me I know that some opportunities involve suffering. I have “been there” and “done that”. But the secret I found is in finding the way out or the solution. We all want to live in peace and happiness. We all want success even though we really have no idea what it is. I am pretty sure that most people are as I was actually unable to see how to be truly happy and prosperous.
Let me share one of my first lessons. I was in pain and not liking it and I was asking God why others were doing so well and why I suffered. I was corrected firmly. First thing was what happened in other peoples lives is irrelevant to my life. Second thing was I ended up right where I headed. I made the choices that lead me to the place where I was. If things were going to change then I would have to make better choices and think differently. I believe it was Al Einstein that said ‘doing the same thing over and over expecting different results is insanity’. The problem is as humans we always tend to do the same things over and over because our inner compass is set in one direction. We pursue what we want and that doesn’t change much. At this moment I was confused. Lucky for me I was given an idea that help me see the problem. I remembered a scripture. Not a favorite of mine. In fact I had always thought it was over used.
Psalm 23
A psalm of David.
“1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.”
Turns out what is meant by this is that we are not to chose to be in a state of want. Wanting is something you can decide to do or not do. I was taught to not want. This is really hard to get if your not ready for it. The correct thing to do is to follow the Shepard. In following we automatically arrive at having. Just skip the wanting and go to the having. This takes practice and there is a right way to do it. I like to refer to another scripture as a reminder.
Philippians 4
“4Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.
5Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
6Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
The method of proceeding is quite clear. Don’t get caught up “being careful” or anxious or wanting. Use prayer and thanksgiving as described by Jesus Christ (Mattew 17:20 and other places) and allow faith to make a way where there is no way. While the whole time staying focused on positive good things building your faith as things and situations come to you in the “fullness of time”. The hardest part of this is letting go. The problem reminds me of a story of how some people catch monkeys by putting a peanut in a jar. The monkey will reach into the jar grabbing the peanut. Once the monkey makes a fist it can not remove its hand from the jar. When you approach the monkey it will be so obsessed with not letting go of the peanut that it will be easy to catch with the heavy jar stuck to its arm. Don’t be like the monkey. Don’t be so obsessed with what you want that you loose your life or get hurt badly.
In conclusion I would recommend that we all try to recognize the opportunity in our lives and use the correct method to have success through them. Follow by requesting guidance and help. Be thankful that you are blessed and stay positive. Live each day as you are directed. You will end up right where your headed and it will be good.