Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - An Eye For Opportunity - #6779

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Download MP3 (right click to save)

It's pretty exciting to travel with my wife - well, just that alone is - but with my wife and her camera. She sees things that I don't see. Oh, I know sometimes I have to stop the car for what appears to be no reason because she goes, "Stop! Quick!" And when I see the pictures, I realize why we had to stop.

Oh, sometimes it was a little sign that later told a powerful story, or she'd seen one face in the middle of a hundred faces, and that one face captured on film some very poignant human emotion. Or we all got to see that glorious sunset, or that bird she saw in flight, or some very interesting scene that she saw and I missed.

I'm not a photographer; she is. She's got an eye for it. Oh, we experience the same setting, but we don't see the same thing. She sees the possibilities that I can't see. And there's one difference between us that is even more amazing.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "An Eye For Opportunity."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Colossians 4:3 . It's actually part of a prayer. Paul says, "Pray for us that God will open a door for our message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ." Notice that phrase there "open a door"? Kind of reminds me of a photographer looking for photo opportunities. As believers we should be like that looking for opportunities - open doors - to talk about the difference Jesus is making in our life.

See, my wife and I could be in the same photographic setting, but she's looking for kind of like - you might call them open doors - opportunities. I don't see them. It's like that spiritually. If you're not looking for them, you'll miss them. If you're looking for them, they're all around. That looking makes the difference.

I pulled up to my favorite neighborhood restaurant, and I said, "Lord, I've been having a crummy day so far. Give me an opportunity to speak some word about You to Joe, the owner." Wouldn't you know it, in the middle of gulping down my lunch, he comes up and says, "You know, they don't make movies like they used to." And we talked about an epic film, which, by the way, has a lot of Christians in it. And I said, "Well, did you ever see The Robe? That old movie about Jesus?" I don't know why that came into my mind, but it did. He said, "Oh, I don't like that. I'm really tired of all those stories. I had those growing up, and I'm sick of all that stuff. I've heard it all." Then I said to him, "You know, when I see one of those movies, I think about what Jesus did for us. He paid an awful high price for you and me just because He loves us so much."

See, it's an ongoing battle in a relationship like that to break through, but I had my opportunity. I asked the Lord for it, and He gave me an opportunity to get him thinking about Jesus and the cross. If you don't know how to get started talking about Jesus, God will open a door if you'll ask Him. An open door is a natural, God-given opportunity to bring up Jesus. It might be something going on in their life, your life, the world. Maybe you've been looking for that opening. Well, when it comes, He will give you the boldness to go through that open door. Just like a photographer, when you look for opportunities, they'll be there.

When you're talking about someone's eternity, you can't miss an opportunity to talk about our Savior, their only hope of an eternity in heaven. Ask Him; He'll give you that opportunity.

Paul said in Colossians 4:5 that follows our word for today from the Word of God, "Make the most of every opportunity." They're all around you. You know what happens when you begin to pray the three-open prayer on a regular basis? Man, you suddenly are positioned by God to make an eternal difference. "Lord, open a door." That natural opportunity. "Lord, open their heart." Get them ready. And "Lord, open my mouth." Give me the courage, give me the words, give me the approach. And you know what's going to happen if you pray that every day? Your every day won't be everyday any more. Because suddenly you will find that eternity will be all over your every day.