Missed Opportunities

                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.