Reveration Blog
7/6/2002 0 Comments OpportunityI was supposed to go to Hawaii for two weeks of military duty. I’ve always wanted to visit that island paradise so I was pretty excited. Until I received a notice in the mail telling me my orders were rescinded. When I called the people responsible for issuing them I discovered that another person with the last name of York was supposed to have his duty cancelled but mine was mistakenly revoked. It was too late to correct the mistake. Instead, the Army sent me to North Carolina. Because of that snafu I ended up attending a Civil Affairs course. This in turn enabled me to join a unit less than seven miles from our home and ultimately to leave the Infantry to become a Civil Affairs officer. In the course of the last five years, God has given me wonderful opportunities to meet people and serve in challenging assignments all because of a clerical goof. Looking back, I see the hand of the Lord at work redirecting my steps. Meditation
Ecclesiastes 7:13—Notice the way God does things; then fall into line. Don’t fight the ways of God, for who can straighten out what He has made crooked? (NLT) Often life does not go the way we intended or hoped. Maybe this is why Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Opportunity is not the right to impose my will. Opportunity is the ability to determine God’s leading and follow it. Instead of getting frustrated or angry when our plans go awry, we should heed the Apostle Paul’s warning. “Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise--making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is” (Ephesians 5:15-17). God wants to work through you to accomplish His will! You are surrounded every day with opportunities to serve Him! Don’t be flustered if events and circumstances line up differently than you imagined. Rather ask the Lord to help you see what He is doing. There is no misfortune associated with His providence. This is why walking by faith is so glorious—what matters is not the condition of the road and its surroundings or the direction it takes, but rather that we are in the company of our loving Father. Inspiration When one door closes, another one opens, but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one that has opened for us.—Alexander Graham Bell Looking for opportunities to serve God is an impertinence; every time and all the time is our opportunity of serving God.—Oswald Chambers in Run Today’s Race God gives the nuts, but he does not crack them.—German proverb ©2002 Daniel York ARR. Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause. If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box. Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice. Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth. (Holman CSB)
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Photo from Rachel Maxey Miles