Opposition -VS- Opportunity

May 20, 2013

Good Morning & Happy Monday!

I pray that your weekend was blessed and fulfilled!  Full and filled with peace, love,  happiness, and rest.  As I 'm writing I'm thinking some of you may have had a very busy, event filled weekend, with very little rest; however, with all of our busyness, peace, love, happiness, and rest is a state of mind and a state of being.

A couple weeks ago I wrote something and shared it on my facebook page, and I wanted to repost it on the blog.  I pray that this word will blesses you as much as it blessed me!

I was listening to Bishop Jakes as I do every morning. He was preaching from his "Open Door Series." I am usually laying there, waking up, and getting my morning manna, when he started talking about slaves and a master and I'm like, ok Bishop where are you going with this. Well of course, you know he was going somewhere, I just had to listen long enough to see where. He started talking about these slaves and how they were different from those of a western culture mentality, and how they had relationship with their master. The relationship was evident because of the conversation that their master was having with them, and the fact that he was having conversation with them at all. Bishop Jakes started to talk about the fact that the master had given the servants talents, but more than giving them talents he had given them an Opportunity!!!!

I love when he said opportunity is something that is discerned and it has everything to do with perception. You have to be able to discern when opportunity has presented itself. When he started talking about the fact that opportunity has to be discerned I got stirred up! He said that most times when opposition comes and a storm arises, we typically pack up our bags, gas up the car, and start heading for the opposite direction, and like the wicked and lazy servant, out of fear we take our talent and bury it in the ground! That is the reason why it is often said that the grave yard is one of the richest places: so many have died with their gifts still inside of them instead of dying empty.

There are very few people that will see the storm coming and start walking toward the storm.  Those that will face the storm are usually those that have discerned that their opportunity is wrapped up in their opposition! Could it be that your hard place, affliction, test, mountain, obstacle, is the very thing that God wants to use as your opportunity?!?!  The master gave the servants an opportunity to increase and the same goes for our relationship with The Father.  God wants to give us an opportunity to increase, based on what He has placed in our hands! Now here is where perception kicks in, what God has placed in your hands may not look like opportunity for increase! You may say how can the loss of my job, loss of a loved one, sickness in my body, a wayward child be opportunity for increase?  You must know that increase is not always monetary!  It's through your opposition and hard place that the opportunity has come for you to Trust God, for your Faith to increase, for your Character to be refined, and for someone to see the Greatness of God in your life! 

I think it all boils down to knowing that our Daddy God is worthy of our trust and that everything is working out for our Good!  What a privilege it is for God to choose us, so I want to encourage you to allow your place of opposition to become an opportunity to reproduce in the earth! Let your passion be driven by purpose and fulfilling the perfect will of God for your life!

Living The Live Experience~

Jodi