Missed Opportunities
2 Kings 17:28
“Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.”
Two times in this chapter it says, “They feared the LORD, and…” You would think this would be great that God’s people finally began to fear the LORD. Yet, when you look at the verses, it says that they feared the LORD and served their own gods. It says they feared the LORD and made the lowest of the people priests.
When you look at these statements, you wonder how could they say they feared the LORD. These statements seem to contradict themselves until you back up to the verse above where it teaches us that there was one priest who “taught them how they should fear the LORD.” The problem was that the people were doing what they were taught by this priest. Whoever this priest was, he missed a great opportunity to teach these people truly how to fear God. He missed an opportunity to turn Israel around for God. His missed opportunity only led the people into worse sin and eventually caused them to face the wrath of God.
I wonder how many times we miss opportunities to help people do right. Throughout our lives we are faced with opportunities to help people, but we miss them because we are afraid of what someone will say. We miss opportunities because we are more concerned with running people off than we are with giving them the whole truth. We miss opportunities because we are so busy we let people pass us by.
Let me remind you that every opportunity should be treated as if it were the last opportunity. You are often faced with opportunities to teach people to do right or to show someone how to be saved, don’t miss your opportunity. You never know if that is the last opportunity that person will ever have. Years ago I witnessed to a man, and five hours after I led him to Christ he passed away. That was his last opportunity. What if I was too timid to present the Gospel? What if I was too embarrassed to follow through with the Gospel? That man would be in Hell right now if I hadn’t treated that opportunity as the last opportunity. Every opportunity you have to help someone get saved or do right, you should treat as the last opportunity they will have.
Furthermore, don’t treat your opportunities carelessly and do a halfway job. Whenever you are faced with an opportunity to help someone, tell them the whole truth. The priest in the verse above apparently held back the whole truth. You must not let what people think about you cause you to withhold yourself from teaching people the whole truth. Don’t be afraid of what they will think or do, but obey the voice of God and tell them the whole truth.
Finally, let me encourage you to ask God to help you to be aware of your daily opportunities. Say to God, “LORD, please help me to see every opportunity You send my way, and help me to treat it with the importance that You would want me to treat it.” This should be your daily prayer. Keep your eyes open and always be ready to treat every opportunity the LORD gives you with the utmost importance. Treat every opportunity God gives you to help someone as the last. If you will do this, you will find you will not have missed opportunities in life.