A Window of Opportunity

 

“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.”

—Isaiah 55:6

Have you ever sought something and, in the midst of your seeking, recognized that there was a particular window of opportunity during which you could do your seeking?

I rely on the Absentee Ballot process in order to cast my vote in local, state, and national elections. Due to the difficulty I have in walking, it is not easy for me to go to the polling place on Election Day. So, I must file a request for an absentee ballot. There is a very particular window of opportunity to fill out the required form and mail it to the proper government office. If I miss that window, I am unable to obtain the Absentee Ballot.

As a young man in junior high school, I fell deeply in love—isn’t that a rather silly phrase for a junior high student to use “fell deeply in love”?—with a girl from my church who was also in some of my classes at junior high. I had actually been “in love” with this girl since she had come to my church in 5th grade. Because I was very shy, I never got up the nerve to let her know how I felt about her. Since she was very pretty—and I strongly felt that I was definitely not in her league—realistically, I likely had very little chance of ever becoming her boyfriend.

One day, I thought, “Today, I am going to tell her how I feel about her!” I waited patiently for just the right time. Finally, there was a moment when no one else was paying attention to us. I started to speak and I froze.

The seconds ticked by. As I began to regain my composure and started to speak again, a very popular boy popped up and began to speak to the object of my affection. And, I had missed my window of opportunity.

I carried a torch for that young lady for many years. I never did have a chance to tell her how I felt. Ah! Puppy love! It’s truly an amazing phenomenon!

Several times in my life an opportunity has presented itself with a time frame attached. Sometimes, my indecision has prevented me from taking full advantage of those opportunities.

I think that happens to most of us at one time or another. We have to make certain we take full advantage of the windows of genuine opportunity that may appear in our lives.

On balance, I am grateful to report, there have been countless other times in my life when I did, indeed, act within the window of opportunity. In every case, God has used my decisiveness to open up amazing career opportunities and even to bring into my life the fabulous woman to whom I have been happily married for 47 years.

I have learned through these very positive experiences how important it is for us to act when we have a chance to act—to act within the window of opportunity.

The Prophet Isaiah understood what it meant to take action when a window of opportunity opened. That motivated him to urge the Israelites in Isaiah 55:6:

Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.

Whenever the Holy Spirit nudges us to turn to God for answers, or for a new pathway in our lives, we need to follow that leading and act. We need to take full advantage of God’s window of opportunity.

Maybe you’re one whom God has been speaking to about something in your life. Or, maybe you’re one whom God has been irresistibly drawing to Himself. If so, you need to act during the window of opportunity He has opened.

For those of us who already belong to God, we need to rely on the leading of the Holy Spirit to present those windows of opportunity that will launch us into a new level of spiritual formation, so that we may be even more effective as ambassadors for Christ in our fallen world.

Let’s keep a sharp eye out today for any window of opportunity that God may open before us. And, let’s move forward and act courageously in taking the step to follow His divine leading.

 

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