Awake and Attentive预览

Prepared For Any Possibility

The life of faith is full of possibilities that are not born of your circumstances but of God's promises. These possibilities are given and guided by Him, and if we live awake and attentive, we will be prepared to experience them.

Verses 3 and 4 tell us that the foolish women did not stock up on oil but prepared only for a moment, and since the bridegroom did not appear at the expected time, they were not prepared. However, the wise were positioned and ready so that when the bridegroom came, they could rejoice with him and enter the banquet with him.

We must always be prepared for any possibility.

2 Timothy calls us to live prepared before the opportunity comes. The problem with our generation is that many of us wait for the opportunity to come and then we prepare for it. But the reality is that it is those who live prepared who can truly take advantage of opportunities when they arise.

Faith is not an excuse to be lazy, but it leads us to grow, mature, and be ready so that when the time is right, we can enter into what God has prepared for us.

You do not prepare for opportunities, but opportunities come to you if you are prepared.

In our church, we have a culture that requires us to be prepared at all times. We believe that if we come prepared for God to use us, at the right time, He will.

A few years ago I was at the last session of our conference in London at the O2 Arena. Near the closing, I felt someone touch my shoulder. When I turned around, I saw Pastor Brian (our global pastor) and he asked me to preach at the last session of the conference. The preacher that night had fallen ill and could not get out of bed.

I wonder what would have happened if I had told Brian that I was not ready? It would probably have been the last time he would have asked me to leave the bench to go into the field.

So I got on that platform and it was the first time I preached at one of our conferences. Over 1,000 people accepted Christ that night. God did what only He can do and used my life because I was ready.

What if God calls you out of the bench and onto the field today? Will you be ready?

Let's live awake and alert to be prepared for any possibility!