We all remember Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, and his passionate love for the dangerous creatures of nature.  From the time he was a boy, he was fascinated by rescuing crocodiles and snakes and all manner of a dangerous creatures.  As an adult, Irwin built his career by dazzling audiences with his fearless handling of dangerous reptiles while at the same time promoting his message of conservation and respect of the animal territory.

His willingness to grab on to the opportunities in life changed his legacy, and it can change ours as well.

Does that mean I need to go find a snake and grab on?  Lord, I hope not!  But at the same time, the Word tells us that God has a playbook for our lives, and it’s a good plan (Jeremiah 29:11).  The Lord wants us to impact our world with a message of hope and passion.  The only limit to the amazing things we can accomplish is our willingness to seize the next God-given opportunity.

PUT DOWN YOUR STUFF

Mr. Irwin never grabbed the business end of a crocodile with just one hand.  His hands were free, his eyes focused, all distractions tuned out.  He paid no attention to the camera guy or the mic holder or any of the other dozens of people undoubtedly standing just out of the camera’s view.  In that moment, it was just him and the job at hand.

No wonder we struggle with grasping the opportunities the Lord gives us when we are bogged down with the excesses of our too-busy lives.  Take a moment and take inventory. How many activities in your life really move you towards your dreams? How many are just good things we feel like we should be doing?  How many activities do you still participate in that were originally God opportunities but are now simply something you do because you feel obligated?

Time is a precious commodity.   And every activity, every opportunity has a cost. Opportunities also have a beginning and an end.   Instead of adding additional bags and electronic gadgets to organize our commitments, it may be time to ask the Lord, “What things do I need to set down?”

If we are going to truly seize an opportunity, we need to first set down anything excess we are carrying. 

In Matthew 10, Jesus called his disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.  In almost the same breath, he told them to leave behind their money, their bags, and their extra clothes.  They were to go like sheep among the wolves, but their message would be heard before governors and kings.

Not only did the Lord want them to focus, Jesus wanted to make sure that anyone who saw the disciples perform a miracle knew beyond a shadow of doubt under whose authority they operated.   Few of us would have watched the Crocodile Hunter use nets and other man-made gadgets to wrestle the croc.  If we can explain it and make it ordinary, we discount its value.

When the King performs a miracle, it’s the King who is glorified, not the servant.  So when the Lord calls us to move in the miraculous, you can be assured there will be no safety nets.  When I move in a God-given opportunity under the authority of the Holy Spirit, it means I get a front row seat to watch God Almighty show off.  It also means I am never the star of the show.

When we embrace a God-given opportunity, we forfeit our right to any ownership of the outcome. 

GOOD IDEAS vs. GOD IDEAS

Most of us are guilty of being over committed.  So how do we avoid getting bogged down?  I mean there are a lot of good ideas and good activities out there!    The truth is not all good ideas are God ideas and there is a big difference.

I remember the year we gathered boxes of crayons and silly putty to take on a missions trip to the jungles of Nicaragua.  Our plan was not just to give the children we would be meeting some candy to eat, but to give them a small toy they might enjoy after we left.  Well, it seemed like a pretty good idea until the children began to eat the silly putty AND the crayons. Needless to say, our team quickly added the phrase “don’t eat this” to our limited native vocabulary.   Those children didn’t need a toy – they needed to see the love of Jesus.  A good idea but one that ended up distracting from the work the Lord wanted to do.

Good ideas can be a distract us from God-given opportunities.

In Matthew 17, Jesus arrives back from the Transfiguration to find an upset father who wanted to register a complaint about the disciples.  His son was demon possessed and continually threw himself into the fire.  The man had brought his son to the disciples, but they were unable to help him.

Now we just learned the disciples had the authority to drive out impure spirits.  What happened?  In Matthew 17:20, Jesus gave them the answer.  “Because you have so little faith.”  While the Word does not tell us what the disciples tried to help the boy, it was evidently not a “God idea.”

The Aramaic word for prayer “slotha” means to “set a trap.”  It is prayer that separates the “God opportunities” from the “good opportunities.”  Like a hunter, we must watch, hands empty and poised, ready to grab on to the next amazing thing the Lord calls us to do.  We watch and we listen and we wait.  We need to listen for whisper of the Holy Spirit, and it is easy to miss if we are not actively trying to trap it.

Prayer opens our eyes and our hearts to the will of God.  It is prayer that will guide is what things to set down and what opportunities to grasp.  Big opportunities require big prayer.  We must learn to test our ideas with prayer, not assume that good intentions are God intentions.  Our goal needs to be to stand ready, focused, ready to move, ready to change,  if we are to grasp God’s opportunites.

Our author closes this chapter with these words:

“A dream becomes a reality one opportunity at a time.  And if you work like it depends on you and pray like it depends on God, there is no telling what God can do in and through you.”