Missed Opportunities

I was so excited last night to have practiced mercy that I didn't even realize the missed opportunity we had. The Lord woke me up around 2am this morning to have a little with me. He said you know Kasie, I'm proud of you and Casey for being Christ-like at dinner tonight. But (there's always a but...), did you shine for me as much as you could have? Did you invite her The Journey? Did you converse with her at all other than about your food? How did she know you all were any different from the next table? Wow, you're right Lord. We were faced with an opportunity, yet we didn't even realize it. I don't know what's worse - ignoring opportunities to share Christ, or missing them completely and not even realizing it. It's been bugging me since He woke me up this morning. Why did I miss that? What's wrong with me? But then He said draw close to me, continue to draw closer and closer and you'll begin to see those opportunities more and more.

The Lord has been talking to me a lot here lately about drawing close to Him. The closer we draw to Him the further we get from the things of this world. We were watching America's Best Dance Crew (on MTV) the other night and they had to dance to Janet Jackson. Well the very first group came out and did this dance that one of the judges said looked like a big "orgy" - and basically it did. We were pretty much disgusted. But of course the judges loved it. And I thought, you know, there was a time when I would have really enjoyed watching that. But now, as I draw closer to God, those things seem less and less appealing. I thought about that a lot. And then after last night, God said if you were really drawing close to me, you wouldn't miss those opportunities. I think we need to ask the Lord to open our eyes to opportunities to not only be Christ-like, but to shine for Him, and further His kingdom. I think we miss so many opportunities throughout the day. Maybe because we are so busy, maybe because our eyes are not open, or maybe we choose to avoid those opportunities. But how easy would it have been for us to have invited her to The Journey, or left a verse on the receipt? An opportunity came and went and we missed it.

Lord open our eyes, and let us not miss an opportunity to shine for you. Forgive us when we do. Help us to be constantly be aware of what is going on around us. Give us eyes to see the opportunities and hearts to look for them. Let us no longer be too busy for you. Let us put you first in all that we do, so that we may see any and every opportunity to show Christ in an ungodly world. Thank you for loving us no matter what, even when we mess up. Thank you for who you are. Amen.