Have you
ever been walking down the street and approached by someone asking for
help? Did you make your decision about
helping them based on their appearance?
Did you act like you did not see them or did you give them the help they
were asking for? These are questions
that can’t be answered the same way every time they are asked. Every situation is different and how you
respond will be different. But when you
feel like you should have given help and did not, then you have missed an
opportunity to be Jesus to someone.
Missed
opportunities happen every day and we don’t even realize that we missed the
chance to minister to someone. These
chances come in all different forms and from all types of people. The world has gotten so busy that we overlook
the people that need help the most.
These people can be anyone from the homeless man on the corner to the
single mom working three jobs to the billionaire business owner. We never know when an opportunity will be
presented to us and we should be prepared to meet people where they are in
life.
One
group that should be able to minister to the needy is churches. But even churches have lost sight of being a
hospital for the hurting and desperate people in the world. The leaders of churches are causing people to
turn away from Jesus rather than leading them to the cross. The church is missing the opportunity to win
more people for the kingdom by not responding to a need. There are simple things that can make a major
difference in the lives of hurting people.
A simple phone call, letter or text could change the mindset of someone
that is searching for something greater in life.
There
was an opportunity recently, for a church, which could have changed the course
of the lives of everyone that was in the building that night. There were two different events going on at
the same time. The first event involved
all the pastors in the area to be part of a conference and dinner. The second event was to feed and shelter
several homeless men for the night. Each
dinner happened on opposite ends of the building with very little cross over
between the two groups. That is where
the first missed opportunity happened.
The second opportunity happened after the homeless men had finished
eating their dinner and one of the men stood up and prayed for God to bless the
church and the people that were helping to run the shelter for the night. Could you imagine if both dinners would have
been done at the same time in the same room?
Then both groups could have been blessed by the presence of the other
group. The pastors could have been
available to pray with any of the people that needed prayer. They could have
also heard a heartfelt prayer from a man that was so thankful for a hot meal
and warm place to sleep. These
opportunities don’t happen very often and when they do, then you better not
miss them.
When we
look back at the life of Jesus, we see hurting people that would do everything
in their power not to miss the opportunity just to touch the hem of Jesus’
robe. Jesus also did not miss an
opportunity to heal a sick or hurting person.
He made sure everyone that needed Him; He was able to meet their
need. He wasn’t concerned about being
late for an appointment or if there was enough food for everyone. The only thing that concerned Him was making
the most of every opportunity that was placed in front of Him.
