Chase the Lion (part six)

Chasing Lions (part six)

Seizing Opportunities

“Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, performed great exploits. He struck down Moab’s two mightiest warriors. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. And he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.”

· Pray

· Life is like a puzzle—4pc, 9pc, jigsaw

· What if there was a missing piece? Almost complete is not the same as completed.

· Benaiah never had to look back at the lion and cave and think of what if.

· Nestled into Colossians 4 there is a verse that doesn’t get much air time, but I think it’s a great definition of spiritual maturity. If all of us obeyed this verse it would revolutionize our lives.

· Colossians 4:5 says: “Make the most of every opportunity.”

· This Scripture doesn’t specify how many or how few opportunities. It doesn’t quantify how small or how large the opportunity. We simply need to make the most of every opportunity.

· The English word opportunity comes from the Latin phrase ob portu.

· In the days before modern harbors, ships had to wait till flood tide to make it into port. The Latin phrase “ob portu” referred to that moment in time when the tide would turn. The captain and crew would wait for that one moment, and they knew that if they missed it, they would have to wait for another tide to come in.

· Seeing and seizing opportunities is an underappreciated dimension of spiritual maturity.

· Everyday we are surrounded by God-ordained opportunities—opportunities to love, opportunities to laugh, opportunities to give, opportunities to learn, opportunities to serve, opportunities to give.

· Seeing and seizing those opportunities is at the heart of what it means to follow Christ and be filled with the Spirit.

· Now here’s the catch. Opportunity doesn’t knock. The giant Egyptian that Benaiah did battle with didn’t knock on the door. He knocked down the door. And the lion didn’t roll over and play dead. Opportunity roars!

· Most of us want our opportunities gift wrapped. We want our lions stuffed or caged or cooked medium well and served on a silver platter. 

· But opportunities typically present themselves at the most inopportune time in the most inopportune place.

· Opportunities often come disguised as big, hairy, audacious problems, but lion chasers don’t see problems. They see 500 pound opportunities!

 · I love the way the Chinese language captures the two sides of this truth. The word crisis is made up of two characters—one means danger and the other means opportunity.

· Do you know when Paul wrote Col. 4:5?

· Col 4:2-3 - Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.

· That’s right, he was in prison.

· How many times do we miss opportunities because we find excuses not to.

· Our prisons are often our finances, relationships, time, or age.

· Carpe diem is usually translated “seize the day”

· How about Carpe Leo - “Seize the Lion”?