Do Not Miss Your Moment: Recognising and Preparing for Divine Opportunities

God-given opportunities can arrive suddenly, but they do not have to meet us unprepared. Drawing from Ecclesiastes 9:10–12, this message explains how valuing each day, maintaining spiritual hunger, developing capacity, and following the Holy Spirit prepare us to recognise and engage our appointed moments. Listen and be encouraged to live with greater wisdom, consistency, discernment, and spiritual readiness.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:13

One of the most beautiful things that can happen to the proceeding is for only to arrive. God-given opportunities may come suddenly, but they do not have to meet us already. Good morning and welcome to this expression of igniting your day. Jesus wept over Jerusalem and warned that the city will be surrounded, leveled, and destroyed because the people did not recognize the time of their visitation. Many times, our pains and struggles are not caused by incompetence or lack of potential. We simply fail to awaken early enough to certain opportunities that God has prepared for us. Over time, we may learn to rationalize or normalize such missed opportunities, but repeatedly missing the moments God has prepared for us is not his plan. Romans chapter 5, verse 17 teaches that those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life through Jesus Christ. If God has given us everything required for life and godliness, then we must have access to the grace, wisdom, discernment, and capacity required to recognize and engage beneficial moments, even when they arrive unexpectedly. Our declaration is this, therefore, that we will recognize our moments, that we will be prepared for our opportunities. Yes, we will not miss the time of our visitation. In the name of Jesus. Amen. Our central passage is from Ecclesiastes chapter 9, verse 10 to 12. The Bible says there, whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might. For there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave where you go. I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill, but time and chance happens to them all. For man also knows not his time, as he fishes, as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them. No matter how unexpectedly an opportunity appears, it will make me strong. No matter how unexpectedly a great opportunity appears, it makes me capable, it will make me ready. There are four important truths in this passage, friends. First, is that whatever is presently in your hand should be done with full strength. Second, ability is important, but ability alone does not guarantee a good outcome. Third, timing and opportunity are decisive factors. And fourth, timing and opportunity do not always wait for our permission. They happen to people. They can arrive suddenly and catch people unawares. This passage compares the experience to fish caught in the net and birds caught in the snare. It reveals how powerless people can feel when an unexpected season suddenly comes upon them. But this raises an important question. How can I be saved and empowered to lean a life according to Romans 5.17? Yet continually live like a bird caught in a snare or a fish caught in a net. That should not be our experience. When time and chance appear, they must meet us capable and prepared. They must meet our spouses, our children, our household, and our communities prepared. We declare this morning that we will never be victims of time and chance. They will meet us ready, they meet us strong, they meet us discerning, they meet us equipped in the name of Jesus. So, how then do we reign over time and chance? How then do we exercise dominion over time and chance? Number one, value each passing day. Value each passing day. The first principle is simple but essential. Value each passing day. You must recognize that no day is ordinary. Psalm 90 verse 12 says, So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Yes, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. Many people behave unwisely because they have not recognized the unique value attached to the present day. They have not realized that there may be something today offers that tomorrow will not offer. Every passing day has a unique value. When we understand the transient nature of time, we learn to apply our hearts to wisdom. Therefore, declare this morning that you value each day. As God gives you the gift of each day, you apply your heart to wisdom. You are aware that every passing day carries a unique value. Declare that you walk circumspectly, according to Ephesians chapter 5, verse 15 and 16. Yes, you will not walk as a fool. Declare that you live wisely. Yes, declare that you make the most of every opportunity. Yes, in the name of Jesus. The second principle is to stay hungry. Stay hungry. It is not enough to recognize the value of each day, my friends. You must stay hungry, stay hungry, stay hungry, stay hungry. You must develop what I call a pilgrim's mentality. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 9 to 10. It says, By faith, he that is Abraham sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with he of the same promise. For he looked for a city which had foundations, whose builder and maker is God. My dear friends, Abraham arrived in the land of promise, yet he continued looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. He reached the land of promise, but he refused to settle. He received the promise, but he did not allow the fulfillment of the promise to settle him. I do not know how many promises or prophetic words you have received and then allowed their fulfillment to make you comfortable. Abraham dwelt in the land of promise, yet he continued looking forward. He maintained an eternal perspective. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 18 says, While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Friends, the moment a promise is fulfilled in your life, it becomes part of what is seen. The moment a prophecy comes to pass, its fulfillment becomes visible. But the fulfillment of one promise is not the greatest thing God can do for you. Every promise God fulfills is only a fraction of what God is able to accomplish in and through your life. Therefore, I encourage you this morning, do not settle. This does not mean that you should be ungrateful for what God has done. Gratitude is essential, but gratitude and spiritual hunger are not enemies. You can sincerely thank God for what he has done while continuing to seek everything he desires to do. Do not allow any fulfillment to force you into spiritual complacency. Continue to see beyond the fulfillment of every promise. Perhaps you have been trusting God for a car. When that car comes, what happens next? Perhaps you have been believing God for a house. When that house comes, what happens next? You must learn to see beyond material fulfillment. Abraham lived in the land of promise, yet he maintained eternity in view. He did not allow the benefits of the land to distract him from his eternal destination. Why don't you pray this morning? Lord, I receive an eternal perspective. Help me to maintain gratitude while becoming oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Help me to remain grateful without becoming settled. Yes, I remain grateful without becoming settled. I will not allow success, promotion, prosperity, or fulfilled promises to weaken my hunger for you in the name of Jesus. The third principle is this: develop capacity. Develop capacity. Develop capacity. Ecclesiastes chapter 9, verse 10 to 12 that we read teaches us that ability is important, but it is not sufficient. Someone may be swift and still fail to win the race. Someone may be strong and still fail to win the battle. Someone may be wise and still lack bread. Someone may possess great understanding and still lack riches. Someone may be highly skilled and still fail to receive favor. Ability is not enough. You may need ability to begin a race, but you need capacity to finish it. You may need a measure of ability to start marriage, but remaining faithfully married requires more than the ability to begin. It requires capacity. You may possess the academic ability to begin a PhD, but completing it requires endurance, consistency, emotional strength, discipline, and sustained capacity. Ability and capacity are not identical. You need the capacity to recognize what time and chance are offering and to take proper advantage of it. This is where many people struggle. They may be gifted, they may be talented, they may be skillful, but they have not developed the capacity required to handle opportunities that appear. Friends, capacity begins with mercy. Psalm 147, verse 10 to 11. It says, He delighted not in the strength of the horse, he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy. Our confidence cannot rest solely on human strength, talent, or skill. We must hope in the mercy of God. Why don't you pray this morning? Lord Jesus, I enjoy your mercy. I enjoy your mercy, and therefore your mercy speaks for me in my place of work. Your mercy speaks for me in my family. Your mercy speaks for me in my ministry. Your mercy speaks for me in my studies. Your mercy speaks for me in every area of my responsibility in the name of Jesus. The answer as revealed is contained in Ecclesiastes 9, verse 10. The Bible says, Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might. See, there are two major messages in that statement. Let me read it again. Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might. The first is consistency. Whatever thy hand findeth to do. Whether you are called to a small task or a great task, show up. Whether the assignment is near or far, show up. Whatever your hand finds to do, attend to it faithfully. That, my friends, is consistency. Consistency answers the question of time because a consistent person remains prepared whenever the call comes. Consistency develops the habit of showing up. Do you remember what the Bible says in Galatians chapter 6, verse 9? The Bible says, and let us not be willing in well-doing, for in due season we will reap if we faint not. Friends, do not become willy in doing good. Why don't you declare this money? You remain consistent, that you will not become weary in doing what is right. Declare that if you are called today, you show up. If you are called tomorrow, you show up. By the grace of God, you will still be faithful in the years ahead. Yes, a consistent person makes proper use of the time that has been given. Consistency positions you for seasons you cannot see. Yes, consistency is the answer to the question of time. The second message in Ecclesiastes 9:10 is intensity because the Bible says, do it with thy might. It is not enough to show up consistently, you must also be thorough. Let me say that again. It is not enough to show up consistently, you must also be thorough. Do not handle every opportunity casually. Do not be casual about handling opportunities. Do not treat every opportunity to serve as though it were insignificant. Consistency prepares you whenever you are called. Intensity ensures that the opportunity is not wasted when it comes. Do what has been placed before you as though you may not receive the same opportunity again. Give yourself wholeheartedly to the present assignment. Colossians 3, verse 22 to 25 teaches us to serve sincerely, not merely to attract human approval. The central instruction is found in verse 23. And whatever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men. Friends, when you understand that God is the one who ultimately assesses your work, it changes how you approach your responsibilities. God is completely holy. There is no darkness in him. He sees our motives, our diligence, our sincerity, and attention to detail. Knowing that God is watching provides the strength for intensity. How carefully you would handle an assignment, how carefully would you handle an assignment if you remembered that God was the ultimate recipient of your service? How thoroughly would you complete the work laid before you if you knew that God Himself would examine it? Why don't you pray this morning? Lord help me to do everything heartily as unto you and not merely unto people. Deliver me from casualness. Give me the grace to serve with sincerity. Give me the grace to serve with excellence. Give me the grace to serve wholeheartedly in the name of Jesus. My dear friends, in the context of Ecclesiastes Chat and I, capacity is the addition of consistency and intensity to ability. Ability may open the door, but consistency and intensity help you remain prepared and make proper use of what lies beyond the door. Number four is be led by the Spirit. Be led by the Spirit of God. John chapter 16, verse 13 says, How be it when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself, but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. Notice the final statement: He will show you things to come. To reign over time and chance, you need access to things to come. You need the Holy Spirit to prepare your heart for seasons that have not yet become visible. You need his direction concerning decisions, relationships, trainings, assignments, transitions, and opportunities. God said in Jeremiah chapter 33, verse 3, Call to me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you did not know of. Friends, the Holy Spirit does not merely reveal what is happening now, He can prepare you for what is happening next. But it is not enough for the Spirit to lead, you must also yield. As the Spirit leads, yield. As the Spirit leads, you yield. As the Spirit leads, you must yield. Declare this morning, I yield to the Holy Spirit at all times. Yes, Lord, I declare that I am sensitive to your direction. Yes, I declare that I recognize your promptings and obey without delay in the name of Jesus. So, in summary, my dear friends, how do we reign over time and chance? Number one, value each day. Recognize that no day is ordinary. Apply your heart to wisdom and learn to discern the signs of your season. Number two, stay hungry. Develop a pilgrim's mentality. Do not allow the fulfillment of a promise, a promotion, or a blessing make you spiritually complacent. Yes, number three, develop capacity, add consistency and intensity to your ability. Show up faithfully, handle every opportunity wholeheartedly. And number four, be led by the Holy Spirit. He guides us into truth and prepares us for things to come. Why don't you declare this morning? I will not miss my moment. I will recognize the signs of my time. I value every day God gives me. I remain spiritually hungry. I develop the capacity to carry my opportunities. I am consistent and wholehearted. I yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Time and chance will meet me prepared in the name of Jesus. My dear friends, take a moment today to identify one opportunity, one responsibility, and one area of preparation that you have been handling casually. Ask the Holy Spirit for direction and take one deliberate step to approach it with greater consistency and wholeheartedness. The Lord bless you. Wishing you this morning an amazing day ahead. God bless you once again.