Focus: Opportunity

Text: Gal.6:10

"As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith."

The Greek word here for 'opportunity' is 'kairos,' which means 'a due measure, a fixed or definite period, a time, a season.' It is an appointed or ordained moment in which something is due or destined to be accomplished. It is a convenient, suitable, fit or favorable time of getting something done. Gal.6:9 says, "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in DUE SEASON we shall reap, if we faint not" (Gal.6:9). Opportunity is a due season - a favorable moment for someone to get something done. 

Paul says to the church in Philippi, "But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye LACKED OPPORTUNITY" (Phil.4:10). In the past, they made every effort to be a blessing to Paul, but the opportunity to do so was not there for them to seize. But they did not waste a ripe moment as soon as they saw an opening or the slightest opportunity.

Whenever opportunity comes up, and you are able to see it, then in that moment you become the captain of your own ship. It is then in your power to make the best out of life, to become something, to see your destination, make an informed choice, and steer the ship to the proper harbor or destination. Opportunity is when the winds blow favorably to port and you can take advantage of it to sail to your destination. Opportunities happen by divine providence. The divine hand throws them up, and you can identify and make use of them by being sensitive and discerning.

Often times opportunities meet us disguised as something else. They are usually masked or ragged. They are not easily recognizable.

The Ancient Greeks once painted a picture of what Opportunity looked like, and I must say that only a fertile mind could have snapped such a photo. "An ancient Greek statue depicted a man with wings on his feet, a large lock of hair on the front of his head, and no hair on the back. The inscription beneath it read, in part: "What is your name? My name is Opportunity. Why hast thou wings on thy feet? That I may fly away swiftly. Why has thou a great forelock? That men may seize me when I am come. Why art thou bald in the back? That when I am gone by none can lay hold of me." Do you see how opportunity is depicted? It is a sort of an ugly image, not looking really like opportunity. The ancient Greeks did not picture it as something wonderful, beautiful or recognizable. You must have eyes to see it and the ability to seize it. Opportunities often come to you dressed up in rags and lacking luster, but they have a huge forelock by which they can be seized.

Opportunity doesn't always look like it, it comes and goes so quickly. Once it passes, it is difficult to get it back. Bear in mind that it is bald at the back of the head. Having no locks behind, it is difficult to get it once it has passed you by.

Those who seek opportunity will be mentally and spiritually poised to detect and identify it. They will be able to see and seize it. Judas Iscariot sought the opportunity to betray his master Jesus Christ, and he found it. Luke says, "And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude" (Lk.22:6). Somehow in this life, we see what we seek, and once we can behold it, we can also hold it. Paul tells us to seize every opportunity to do good and be a blessing to others. 

Don't close your mind and heart to the needs of others. Don't fold your hands, refusing to release what is in them for another's benefit. Look out for opportunities to do good, and if you can't find them, create them. By all means do good.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter