Positioning Yourself For Opportunities
Believe me, no matter how much information we have, it could even be prior information about what is about to happen. If we’re not prepared for it, ladies and gentlemen, we might actually struggle.
There is a particular proverb that goes thus: once there is an announcement of the fact that there’s going to be war, even if you are a crippled person, the war is not going to kill you. Because you have been because you’ve been told like a year before that time. Even if you’re crippled and your hands and legs are not there, you can actually be struggling and moving a little bit. So you’ve got 365 days to escape what they’ve told you is going to happen. But then, when I was growing up, somebody said they had discovered that this was something that would only come to pass in the life of a wise crippled person. No matter how long the information is being given to anyone, to any crippled person, they might not still act on it. It takes a wise person to act on it so that the war will not meet them.
Our scripture for the year is 1saiah 61:1-22. If you can try it, maybe twice a week, read it through, and you will love it. And I pray, in the name of Jesus, that the prophecies will come to pass in all our lives. It says, Jerusalem, get up and shine, because your light has come and the glory of the Lord shines on you. You said darkness now covers the earth. Deep darkness covers our people. But the Lord shines on you. And people see His glory around you. We can stop there for now, but make sure that you read through verses 1–22 at home. From the beginning, it says, Jerusalem, get up. KJV says, arise; in other words, act on what is about to happen; act on it. Do not let it meet you unawares. Be it good or bad,. Act on it. Prepare for it.
That is why, all through this month, we’ve been talking about planning. We said before that even Jesus planned to come to this earth. And that was why, after 40 days and 40 nights of fasting and prayer, when the devil went to him and said, “Turn stone to bread, bow down for me, jump here,” Jesus Christ, who was well equipped,. He remembered the reason he was here. And what did he say? He said, “Satan, get thee behind me; this cannot happen.”. Even when one of his disciples, Simon Peter, the one that Jesus Christ said, is upon this rock, I will build my church—that is, one of the greatest men of God that ever existed—even when he came against Jesus and he said, “Jesus, ah, no, you will not die. I will still want you around me.”. Jesus Christ knew quite alright that he had to die so that salvation would be given to every man. He knew quite alright that he had to die so that a name that was above every other name would be given to him. Because he planned before coming, he knew why he was here. And because of that, he remembers, “Hey guy, you’re not the one speaking.” He sensed that there was somebody speaking inside of him, and he said, “Satan, get thee behind me.”. You could see that he did not say, “Peter, get thee behind me.”. He must have said, “Peter still follows me. No problem, but then, the one speaking inside of you—get out from there!”. Amen to God.
Ladies and gentlemen, God has spoken to us since the beginning of the year. So we have prior information on what is about to happen this year. Proverbs chapter 24, verses 3–4 (TLB): The Bible says that any enterprise is built by wise planning. The enterprise might be your spiritual life; if you want to move to another level, the enterprise might be your family. The enterprise might be your career; it might be the new ministry that God has given to you. whatever it might be. The Bible says that any enterprise is built by wise planning; it becomes strong through common sense and profits wonderfully by keeping abreast of the facts. It takes someone who is wise to know that he or she needs to plan it before executing it. We need to plan before jumping into it.
Today, I will just talk about positioning yourself for opportunities, and I’m going to explain that. Planning is an orderly, step-by-step conception or proposal for accomplishing an objective. You want to accomplish something, but what are the steps you are going to take? What are the things that you’re going to take into consideration?
It is a proposed or intended cause of action. That is, for you to have that understanding of the fact that “yes, I know what is about to happen, but can I get ready for it?” I pray in the name of Jesus. This year, you will shine.
An opportunity is a situation in which it is possible for you to do something that you want to do. So yes, you’ve got this opportunity. Why? Because grounds are open for you to execute what you actually want to execute. So when we talk about opportunity, we see the particular situation in which you find yourself, in which everything is actually possible; nothing is blocking you. Nothing is stopping you. You’ve got that opportunity, and nothing is stopping you from doing something that you actually want to do.
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to say to you that if planning is not in place, even when opportunities show up, we may actually struggle with execution. I will say that today is the future we all spoke of yesterday. One of the futures that I’ve spoken about in the past was that I wanted to be in the United Kingdom. I know that the majority of you were born here, so you don’t know how happy I was the first time I landed at Heathrow. Believe me, it felt like I was in a freezer, obviously, like somebody put me in a deep freezer. But I thought about it to see if this is how the deep freezer in this country feels. I love it. I mean, I just love it.
So listen to me, ladies and gentlemen. There are so many things that you’ve been talking about for the future. And you know that you keep on meeting the future per day, but you don’t recognise the future. “Oh yes, I will do this particular thing for my wife; I will do this for my children… We will start doing this in our family. When the new year comes, we will make sure that morning devotion and evening devotion are regular.” Have you started? No!. See,I caught you. Yes, you haven’t. Some even say, “This is what I want to do concerning my business, and I will make sure that I call this company and I make sure that I get everything that I want.” Have you started it? No. Some people even say, “I will create time to spend with my children this year.” Have you been creating the time? No!
Listen, we meet the future all the time. We exist in the future all the time. But nothing happens. Making the most of the opportunities that come our way requires prior preparation. Not every opportunity is yours. Anything that you did not plan for may seem like it is for you when it comes. Oh, they say they’re making money there; you jump on it. Oh, they say that this is where they are getting it, so you jump into it. Oh, they said this is how my ministry will be able to boom, and then you do it. For anyone who has not prepared for anything, when it comes, they will think that is the best way to go about it.
