Our God-ordained Opportunities

      By Fern Horst

"And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." (Revelation 5:11-13)

The Book of Revelation is a difficult one to understand. But there are gems which stand out clear and beautiful in meaning, and this is one of them. It is a picture of a time in the future when all creatures in heaven and on earth and under the earth will fall on their faces in worship of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

For those of us who are Christians and are dismayed when we hear our Lord's name taken in vain, or when we learn of those who are working hard to remove God's name from public places, or to prevent children from praying in school, this future scene is a welcome one. Many people who don't want to have anything to do with Christ right now will some day, without resistance, fall on their faces before Him, acknowledging that He truly is Lord of all. Can you imagine being someone who had rejected Jesus as their Saviour, suddenly realizing at a point when it's too late to change their eternal destiny, that they had been very wrong about Him?

As much as it thrills me to imagine that future scene of everyone on their faces before Christ, it also makes me sad for those who have denied Christ in this life. There are many who have made up their minds to reject Him, and nothing anyone says will change that. But there are others who know too little about Christ, or who have had no one to encourage them to seek Him, that I ache for the most.

When my father served as chaplain in a nursing home, there was one elderly bed-ridden lady that he and my mother visited who often said, "I just wonder if I'm doing enough to win souls for Jesus." Her world at that point was very small, coming in contact only with those who walked into her room, and yet she was conscious about bringing them to a saving faith in Christ. Who knows but that God was preserving her life a little longer so that she could minister to someone who worked in that nursing home.

We don't always know why God orders our lives the way He does. We sometimes wish we could live somewhere else, or could work at a different job, or be married and have a family rather than being single. But in the grand scheme of things those details are peripheral to God using us to bring others to know Him. He knows just where He needs us at any point in time to fulfill His purposes through us. It may just be that because you live where you do now and work at the job you now have, that someone you rub shoulders with daily will come to a saving faith in Christ. Are you aware of those around you? Are you conscious of taking opportunities to point them to Christ? God puts us in the places He needs us to be, but we must be willing and obedient to take those opportunities and not waste them.

Someday when we all fall on our faces before Christ, one of those persons may be kneeling beside you, and your joy will be full in knowing that God used you to ensure their eternity with Him.

© 2006 Fern Horst

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