A new year represents a new opportunity. For Christians, it is yet another opportunity to grow in faith and make Christ known in all aspects of our existence. This year, as with every year, God will send us opportunities. Some will, on their face, be enticing and inviting; others will appear intimidating, threatening, or downright dangerous; and many others will come cloaked as inconveniences or unwelcome challenges. The question is “what will you do with the opportunity when it comes?”
If we go with the Bible on this, may I submit that there are three possible responses.
- STEP UP. We step up when we accept the opportunity/challenge and make the adjustments needed to meet it. We may have to change deeply ingrained habits and attitudes, end relationships that may be more detrimental than beneficial, stay in a place we desperately want to leave, or face our fears and move boldly into the unknown. David stepped up and killed a giant (1 Sam. 17:25-51). Mary stepped up and became the mother of Jesus (Lk. 1:26-38). Gideon stepped up and God used him to deliver the Israelites from Midianite harassment (Judg. 6-7). Stuttering Moses stepped up and led the enslaved Israelites out of Egypt (Ex. 3-13). When we step up, we get to see the incredible things God can do through our ordinary lives.
- STEP BACK. We step back when we refuse to face the challenge, hesitate to take the opportunity, or get mired in indecision because of fear, feelings of inadequacy, competing commitments, or a lack of faith. Some of Jesus’s followers abandoned him after hearing a particularly challenging message that would have required deeper commitment (Jn. 6:60-66; Matt. 10:17-22). An entire generation of Israelites died in the wilderness because they refused to believe they could take the promised land (Heb. 3:19). Felix, an influential politician, was offered an opportunity to set an innocent man free and find salvation in the process but he hesitated and retreated to the illusory safety of neutrality (Acts 24:24-26). We do not hear anything more about these people because retreat is unremarkable; it leads to spiritual stagnancy or backsliding and prevents us from seeing what God could do through us.
- STEP AWAY. We step or turn away when we outrightly and knowingly reject God-given opportunities because we would rather do our own thing. Written this starkly, it’s hard to believe Christians do this at all, but we do it all the time. Pride, stubbornness, impatience, and rebellion tend to be at the root of this choice—we refuse to submit to God because we think we know better. This was the case with Jonah who went west when his God-given (albeit unwelcome) opportunity was in the east (Jon. 1:1-3). King Saul chose to do his own thing with tragic results (1 Sam. 15). The prodigal son in Jesus’ parable similarly rejected the opportunities he had at home, thought he had better plans, and ended up eating pig slop (Lk. 15: 11-31). Stepping away always leads downward, to a troubled life and places we would rather avoid.
So when God sends you opportunities for growth this year what will you do? May God grant us all the grace to step up.