1 Corinthians 16 -- The Stewardship Of Opportunities

Paul finished sharing wisdom from God with the church at Corinth by talking about “three areas of stewardship:  money, opportunities, and people.  These are probably the greatest resources the church has today, and they must not be wasted,” my commentary summarized.

I particularly noticed the stewardship of opportunities this morning.  Sometimes we can feel unsettled about opportunities that present themselves.  My commentary said, “A Christian must use his common sense, pray, study the situation, and seek the best he can to determine the will of God.  Lean not on your own understanding must not be interpreted to mean Put your brain in neutral and don’t think?  God gave us our minds and He expects us to think, but He does not want us to depend only on our own reasoning.  We must pray, meditate on the Word, and even seek the counsel of mature Christian friends … After we have done all we can to determine the leading of the Lord, we must decide and act and leave the rest to the Lord … The important thing is that we sincerely want to do His will … While we stop to think, we often miss our opportunity.  Once we know what to do, we must do it and not delay …The stewardship of opportunity is important.  The individual believer, and the church family, must constantly ask, ‘What opportunities is God giving us today?’  Instead of complaining about the obstacles, we must take advantage of the opportunities, and leave the results to the Lord.”

Father, I want to be open to opportunities You place before me.  Help me in every way with the stewardship of them.  Don’t let me miss what You have planned for me because of inattention or failure to consider that You may be right in the middle of the obstacles going on.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford