Open to Opportunity

Posted by: Kathy from Afternoons | Monday, July 15th, 2024 (12:00am)

Live wisely among those who are not believers and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. Colossians 4:5-6 NLT

The other day I went for a walk…a pretty normal occurrence in my life. I normally pop in my AirPods and listen to music, or a podcast or talk to my mom on the phone, but this day was different. About 5 minutes into my walk, the pods died and I was annoyed, but the Holy Spirit whispered, “ What if we just spent this time together? What if you just tuned into what’s around you?” So, that’s exactly what I did. As I walked, I took in the beautiful symphony of the birds and the calm hum of the breeze through the trees. Peace overwhelmed me. As I got closer to downtown, I noticed it was bustling! The weather was beautiful and tons of folks were out and about with their families and furry friends. The sights and the sounds flooded my heart with joy which allowed me to be open to and aware of things that perhaps I would not have been open to on a normal day.

I don’t typically like people to hinder my walking time. I like to keep moving. And typically if someone were to ask me if I had time for a “short survey”, I would kindly smile and say “no thank you” and be on my way. But on this particular day, a man with a clipboard approached me and said, “Excuse me, Do you have 5 minutes for a quick survey?” (And I couldn’t lie, I actually DID have 5 minutes. If he had said “Do you want to stop walking and talk to me even though you don’t know what I’m going to ask you?” I could have honestly said, “Um, no, I don’t.”) So, I said “Sure.” He said “Do you believe in God?” And with enthusiastic relief that this wasn’t a timeshare presentation, I replied with an emphatic, “YES, I do!!” After a few other questions, he realized he was “preachin’ to the choir”! We exchanged encouraging scriptures with one another. He expressed that my words were encouraging TO HIM as the street evangelism thing can sometimes be quite discouraging. He affirmed me by saying that I was ready to give an answer for what I believed. I felt like I had “passed a test”, but I wasn’t really trying to. People were passing by and hearing our conversation and I don’t know that anyone was positively affected by what they heard, but I like to think that maybe someone saw the overwhelming joy that results from knowing Jesus and perhaps that gave them a curiosity to pursue Him too.

So, today, let’s adjust the dial and turn down the volume of the world for just a minute…you might hear the voice of the Lord and it just might radically change the direction of your day!! Give it a try. The opportunities are endless!! Don’t miss ‘em!