Giver of Opportunities
"His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.'" (Matthew 25:23 ESV)
Years ago, the pastor of our little country church preached a sermon on stewardship.
He recounted Jesus' parable of the talents and told us that God calls us to be good caretakers and investors not only of our money and our gifts but also of our time. He advised us to be ready for "unplanned interruptions" in our days when we could encourage or help someone.
After the service, I heard my husband and another long-time member of our church family talking about the message. These are two of the most optimistic, positive-thinking guys I know, so I wasn't surprised when one of them said he was going to try to think of them as "unplanned opportunities."
I am TERRIBLE about interruptions to my schedule (cue chorus of “amens” from everyone who’s ever known me), so this is something I need to work on. I also always want a title/acrostic/mnemonic/name for everything, so I told my husband, "If I could just come up with an 'F,' we could call these U.F.O.s."
A few minutes of brainstorming later, we'd settled on "faithfulness" for the F, based on the faithful servant in the parable and had our U.F.O.—Unplanned Faithfulness Opportunities.
I need to be on the lookout for U.F.O.s today. I need to ask God to help me recognize them when I see them. And I need to ask Him to help me respond when I recognize them. All in pursuit of this most eternally rewarding of prizes: "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master."
A few minutes of brainstorming later, we'd settled on "faithfulness" for the F, based on the faithful servant in the parable and had our U.F.O.—Unplanned Faithfulness Opportunities.
I need to be on the lookout for U.F.O.s today. I need to ask God to help me recognize them when I see them. And I need to ask Him to help me respond when I recognize them. All in pursuit of this most eternally rewarding of prizes: "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master."
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I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to tell me what you really think. Years ago, I explained to my then-two-year-old that my appointment with a counselor was "sort of like going to a doctor who will help me be a better mommy." Without blinking, she replied, "You'd better go every day." All of which is just to say I've spent some time in the school of brutal honesty!