Many opportunities in life we actively pursue ourselves. We express our interest, knock on the door, and see where the journey takes us. At other times, opportunity finds us, and we receive an unexpected invitation into the unknown.
For example, after considering all the available opportunities, we tend to simply apply for the jobs we’re interested in. And regardless of whether we get the job or not, the process started with our expressed interest in it.
And this gives us a sense of predictability and control. Our life is following a direction of our choosing. And a closed door is still a door we chose to knock on.
Sometimes it’s then hard to know how to respond to an unexpected invitation – when someone offers us an opportunity or opens a door we had not previously considered.
And being so unexpected it tends to catch us off guard – disturbing our sense of control and predictability.
Sometimes this leads us to blindly reject it and only consider those opportunities we ourselves have initiated. And at other times, we’re so desperate for our situation to be different that we blindly accept it – assuming it must be better than the dead ends we seem to keep running into.
But both reactions miss the mark.
Perhaps God is inviting us into a new adventure, and we must not let our pride reject a path just because we were not the ones to think of it first.
On the other hand, we must consider if this is a distraction from the work God has called us to do. Are we simply chasing the next shiny opportunity while missing our practice of patience and endurance in the calling God has given us?
In the end, discernment is needed, and we miss what God might be up to when we’re too quick to accept or reject the unexpected invitations that come our way.
Even when opportunities find you, still faithfully consider if this is your best path forward.
