Something to think about

Something to Think About:NOW Moment - No Opportunity Wasted!

So, what exactly is a NOW moment? It is a moment where you and I are to seize the opportunities God has given us. It is not always about conquering (dominating) the mountain as if it were an ant hill. But rather, climbing it with consistency and a can-do attitude.

I can tell you at 42 years old, there are several opportunities in life that I know I did not take full advantage of. There were blessings God had given me, and I took them and people for granted. I’m sure you all can relate. However, I am writing this today as a strong declaration for anyone who wants all God has for them and looks to take advantage of His grace upon their lives. This is a NOW moment. And we declare that we want to live with an N – No, O – Opportunity, W – Wasted mentality.

In our walk with the Lord, we will feel many promptings in our hearts to seize the moments and opportunities presented to us. Although God desires to bless us and be glorified through us, our job is to put our faith and trust in Him and obey His leadership.

In fact, Proverbs 3:5 instructs us to “Trust in the Lord with all of our hearts and lean not to our own understanding.” We are commanded to put our faith in God because our reasoning and logic are inadequate to handle what life will give us. Our “common” sense and logic will not even get us to the promises of God because the way to them leads through obedience to Him. It is not a “common” way, or everyone would be doing it, believer or non-believer.

As believers, we see many precious promises from God in His word. We must be open to His plan and leading so we may see them come to fruition. Even at the risk of looking foolish to others in the world and carnal-minded Christians in the church, we must step out by faith and obey the word of the Lord if we desire to see the outcome He has promised.

We may not always understand what God is doing in our circumstances. In fact, He will appear in a way unfamiliar to us, but He will show up, and we will overcome because He who called us is faithful. God did not save and send us out as His ambassadors to fail.

In a sense, when we follow the Lord’s commands, He is putting himself on the hook to produce the outcome that He promised, and it pleases Him to do so. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him and getting to know Him and His trustworthiness makes faith possible.

The children of Israel were in a situation in the bible where they were delivered from years of Egyptian bondage by the mighty hand of God. He performed many wonderful works, and His fame and power to defend His people was spread worldwide (even in a world without the internet, telephones, or television). He brought them out, as the King James Version says, with a “high hand” (Deuteronomy 26:8) and brought them to the brink of a place He had promised they would dwell. It was a place of victory in a land called Canaan. This was God’s plan generations before it came to pass.

Sadly, the Children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, on an 11-day journey, before getting to that promised place. However, by the grace of God, their clothes didn’t wear out. God fed them manna from Heaven daily and even a weekend portion to give them a day off from gathering food. Unfortunately, generations of Israelites, over 20 years old, died in the wilderness. Though they experienced a measure of God’s grace while there, they never experienced the fullness of God’s grace (Canaan) because of unbelief. They did not take advantage of a NOW moment

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For 430 years, God heard the prayers from the Children of Israel to be freed from Egyptian bondage. Therefore, He told Moses to tell Pharoah to “Let My People Go!” This was so that they could worship Him in the wilderness. Moses consistently made this request to the Egyptian king (Pharoah). God wanted His people to worship on their way to the promise. However, they consistently complained on their journey instead! So, when it came time to obtain the promise, they were not wired to worship and move forward in faith. Seizing a NOW moment. They were wired to look at the moment through the lenses of their circumstances and express how unhappy they were.

It is possible that many of the Israelites never fully surrendered to God and His ability to get “Egypt out of them.” They complained in bondage and complained when they were made free. Even when God blessed them greatly, they found occasion to be ungrateful. It was obvious, that without a heart of worship toward God and a willingness to surrender to His plans, they were not ready to take advantage of a NOW moment.

Upon reaching the brink of the land God had promised to give the Children of Israel, God told Moses to send spies to do some reconnaissance on the land. He wanted them to gather information so they could devise a plan for an attack against the occupants of the land (see what they were up against through the lenses of faith) and plan how they would live once they conquered the land.

Moses sent twelve men, a leader from each tribe of Israel, to do the spying. Upon their return to camp after checking out the land, ten of the twelve brought back an evil report and spread fear and dread among the people. They felt Israel could not overcome the obstacles that lay before them. Because of this, when God told them to go and obtain the promised land, they would not go. It brings about the question, whose report will you believe?

If God calls you to it, if it is promised in His word, no matter what giants you see before you, no matter what obstacles are standing in your way, you will see the faithfulness of God. We must take advantage of the NOW moments and not waste years, months, weeks, days, or even hours operating in fear. Things may overwhelm us for a moment, but then as believers, we press our way past the unbelief into believing steadfastly in the word of the Lord.

Simply put, to take advantage of a NOW moment, we save ourselves and others around us a lot of heartaches. Some of the things we are going through in our lives directly result from a NOW moment that we have not taken advantage of. God opened the door, and we did not follow through, or He gave a specific word, and we have not stepped out on faith and obedience.

Let us not be content with staying in the misery of mediocrity and give in to a typical, ordinary, average, mundane, pedestrian, and lackluster life experience and accept that as ok. After a while, what we were content to stay in will become frustrating to us. Yet it becomes harder to change because it is “all we know.” So let us, as Holy Spirit-filled believers, continue to follow His leading and direction. It is time to take advantage of the NOW moments before us and see how God will get much glory out of our lives. The Lord says, “I have come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.” - John 10:10

N. O. W. - NO OPPORTUNITY WASTED! Just something to think about!