Chance or Opportunity

 

By Joe Slater     Does God give you chances, or does He provide opportunities? We sometimes treat those words as synonyms, but their meanings are quite different! Chance indicates something random, uncertain, even accidental – a roll of the dice, as it were. You have no way to influence the outcome.     Opportunity, by contrast, implies that you play a role in choosing a course of action. You may choose wisely or foolishly, but it remains your choice. It is neither random nor accidental.     Some things do, indeed, happen by chance. Solomon wrote by inspiration, “Time and chance happen to them all” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). Sometimes our plans don’t work out no matter what we do. We didn’t plan to become ill or be laid off from work, but it happened. Such is life.     But not everything is subject to chance. God can and does provide opportunities. Paul urged the Galatians to “do good to all” as they had opportunity (Galatians 6:10). He understood when material support from the church at Philippi was delayed: “You surely did care, but you lacked opportunity” (Philippians 4:10).     Our salvation depends not on chance, but on how we use the opportunity God has provided in Christ. Acts 14:27 refers to it as God opening “the door of faith.” As one chooses whether to walk through an open door, so we choose whether to trust Jesus and obey His gospel. This is neither random nor accidental.     Your eternal destiny depends not on chance, but on what you choose to do with the opportunities God has given to you.

- Joe Slater serves as minister of the Church of Christ in Justin, TX. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://justinchurchofchrist.com