Back in the 1990’s before social media, there was a section in the newspaper titled “missed connections,” I’m not sure if you ever read it. For those of you who are not familiar with it, basically it was a section where people would write in and say something like “I was at the supermarket on Sunday and I saw you with your beautiful green skirt, our eyes locked, and you smiled at me. I was too shy to come say hello, but if you are reading this and are interested in having some coffee, contact me. Sincerely, brown eyes.” Or something corny like that.

So, the section of the newspaper was made for those hopeless romantics that somehow thought they missed their opportunity of a lifetime. Or maybe they watched the movie Sleepless in Seattle too many times. Whatever the case was, the authors of such writings knew they had missed out on an opportunity of meeting someone. Maybe their nerves got the best of them or they simply were too afraid — whatever the case was, they missed a connection.

Have you ever experienced a missed connection? It might not have been a romantic opportunity but an opportunity at work, an opportunity to tell someone you loved them before they moved or passed away, or an opportunity to make a difference. Whatever that opportunity might have been, the feeling of missing an opportunity is something we all have felt at some point in our lives.

Don’t worry, we aren’t alone. There was a king that royally missed his opportunity when he had it.

“Elisha said, 'Get a bow and some arrows,’ and he did so. ‘Take the bow in your hands,’ he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. ‘Open the east window,’ he said, and he opened it. ‘Shoot!’ Elisha said, and he shot. ‘The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!’ Elisha declared. ‘You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek.’ Then he said, ‘Take the arrows,’ and the king took them. Elisha told him, ‘Strike the ground.' He struck it three times and stopped. The man of God was angry with him and said, 'You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.’ (2 Kings 13:15-19, New International Version)

There he was, Jehoash, the king of Israel going to see the dying prophet of God, Elisha. This king went to look for the blessing from the prophet but when the prophet gave him the instructions to do something, Jehoash only did it to please Elisha and really didn’t do it with much faith.

Jehoash really missed his opportunity. He struck the ground only three times and that was how many battles he won.

Has there been a time in your life that God has called you to do something but you missed your chance? Maybe you feel as if your missed connection like king Jehoash left you thinking that was your last chance. But this is not the case, God is a God of many opportunities. Even now, we have been give the opportunity to put everything on pause and truly seek God. He wants to speak to us, he wants to give us several opportunities to hear him. This is the time we can make up for those lost connections we have encountered before. Let us seek Him while He can be found.

God of Opportunities