Prepare for the Opportunities God Sends to You

 

In life, there is a need to prepare oneself for the opportunity or blessing one is expecting. So that, when the opportunity knocks, one is ready to grab it. Mathias was one of the early converts to Christianity. He did his best to prepare for the future ministry. When the opportunity came his way to be numbered among the twelve apostles, he was more than ready to grab it. Judas relinquished his position as an apostle because of his greed and selfishness. Judas’s position was vacant. Somebody had to fill the post.

There was an opportunity for a new candidate to assume the dignity of an apostle (Acts 1: 15 – 26). Mathias was there. He was ready. He was prepared. Peter listed the prerequisite qualifications to become an apostle. Mathias possessed all these qualifications. So Matthias became the twelfth apostle. And to show that he was ready to serve as an apostle, he worked assiduously for the growth of the Church, preached the Gospel tirelessly. And today, we celebrate Mathias as a saint, a martyr and an apostle.

Opportunity may come your way; promotion may be looking for you. Success may be searching for you. But the question is this: are you ready? The way you live your life, the choices you make and the things you do; do these clearly show that you are preparing yourself for something great? A lazy worker who does the least in his company is certainly not preparing herself for promotion. When a promotion arrives, she is found wanting. An ambitious but disorganized, disoriented person who is aspiring to the position of leadership is certainly not preparing himself to lead.

You need to prepare yourself for the blessings and favours you are expecting from God. Do not render yourself unfit for the blessing you desire so much.

Victory in Christ

 Jesus tells us that “in the world you will have many troubles” (John 16:33). Jesus asserts this with a note of certainty and finality. In the world, we will face some troubles. Whether we like it or not, there will be troubles, from within and from without. There will be trouble when we least expect it and from where we least expect it.

It is naïve to wish that our lives were entirely peaceful; without any disturbance, challenge, and trouble. To live in such a way as to avoid all troubles is an exercise in futility. What is even worse? Trouble meets the person unprepared, confused and broken. Challenges, troubles and difficulties are part of human existence. We don’t need to look very far; we don’t need to search very hard to find problems in our world, society, families and personal lives.

However, this is not to say that life is full of troubles and nothing else. The statement of Jesus that there will be trouble in this world is not an invitation to pessimism and cynicism. Christ is not asking us to wear the glasses of negativity so that the only thing we see is trouble and nothing but trouble. Christ is not asking us to live a dry, joyless, dull and drab life. There are genuine moments of joy and happiness, excitement and ecstasy in life. Even in the midst of troubles; one can still experience profound peace and consolation.

There are two extremes we need to avoid. First, to wish to live a life without any trouble at all – this is actually an illusion. Second, to see trouble in everything – this is actually the greatest trouble. What we need is a balanced, informed and critical view of life. Life is a mixture, a combination of opposites – good and bad, truth and falsehood, light and darkness, joy and sadness, and happiness and sorrow.

Again, our emphasis is not on the fact that there are troubles in the world. Our emphasis is on the victory that Christ has won for us. Jesus says: “Take courage, I have conquered the world” (

John 16:33). As Christians, we believe that in the midst of our troubles, Christ is with us. He will never abandon us. He will grant us the courage, strength, fortitude, and graces we need to face the challenges of our lives. Our victory in Christ is indeed guaranteed.