Making the Most of Every Opportunity
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Ephesians 5:14-17 NIV
This is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.
Colossians 1:9-14
9. And so, from the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10. to lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12.giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13. He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14. in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
It’s really hard to “be careful how you live” when there are so many things in life that cause you pain, anguish, anger, sadness, frustration, and you fill in the blank for any other “difficult” feelings or state of mind you can think of. It’s easy when you’ve just had a wonderful day to top off a wonderful week! It’s easy when you’re feeling like everything in your life is finally going right. It’s easy when it’s all easy.
But when you get thrown for a loop, when a wound you thought was healed is reopened, when a situation you thought was resolved is revisited, it’s not as easy. When life takes a big fat u-turn back to a day and a time when you felt exactly the opposite of strengthened, patient, joyful, or full of redemption, it’s very, very hard to live a life fully pleasing to God. But it’s not impossible! If we draw strength from the times we needed God to help us endure—and so He taught us not only endurance but total reliance upon Him; if we turn to His word for wisdom in how to deal with the latest turn of events in our lives, we find comfort in the familiarity of His truth revealed in the bible, and so we make it through.
No, we do more than “make it through!” We thank God for “his glorious might” and we find strength in the assurance of our “inheritance of the saints in light.” We know that He loves us and fills us with His truth, and teaches us His ways and has delivered us from the finality of death. We know that through prayer He will teach us what we need to know to make the most of a current difficult situation. We trust that He will be with us through it all.
Christ’s light shines on us if we only turn our faces toward the cross. I cannot express my deep, deep gratitude for the gift of Jesus Christ. I can only live my life in a way that I believe is pleasing to God. The rest of the world is in His hands!
I hope you spend today strengthened for endurance with patience and joy as you face whatever the world sends your way.
Mary
