Divine Opportunities

2 Kings 7:3 (NLT) 3 Now there were four men with leprosy[a] sitting at the entrance of the city gates. “Why should we sit here waiting to die?” they asked each other. 4 “We will starve if we stay here, but with the famine in the city, we will starve if we go back there. So we might as well go out and surrender to the Aramean army. If they let us live, so much the better. But if they kill us, we would have died anyway.”

In our text today we have four gentlemen that found themselves at a crossroad. During the time of our text, there was a serious famine in the land. Food was very scarce and very expensive. Once again, God was bringing judgment on His people for disobedience and serving other gods. These four men were even in a worse situation than everyone else. Not only were they poor, but they were also sick with leprosy. This condition caused them to be outcasts.

CROSSROADS: There are times in life that we will find ourselves at a crossroad. When we are at a crossroad, there are at least 4 decisions that we can make. We can turn to the right, we can turn to the left, we can stand still, or we can go back the way that we came. The key thing to know about a crossroad is that a decision has to be made. A crossroad can be looked at in two different ways depending on your perspective (how we see the situation). We can see your crossroad as a dilemma or as an opportunity.

Dilemma: a situation requiring a choice between equally undesirable alternatives.

Opportunity: A favorable, appropriate or advantageous combination of circumstances. A chance or prospect.

A crossroad can be something very simple or a major life decision.

- Simple Crossroad (decision point): What to wear, where to eat, drive or carpool, get up or hit the snooze button, etc.

- Major Crossroad (decision point): Go to college or work, joining the military or staying home, getting married or staying single, taking a new job or staying in place, committing to Christ or putting it off until later, accepting a call to ministry or waiting on another sign, etc. The decision that we make when we are at a crossroad can have an effect on the rest of our lives.

2 Kings 7:8 (NLT) When the lepers arrived at the edge of the camp, they went into one tent after another, eating and drinking wine; and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and hid it. 9 Finally, they said to each other, “This is not right. This is a day of good news, and we aren’t sharing it with anyone! If we wait until morning, some calamity will certainly fall upon us. Come on, let’s go back and tell the people at the palace.”

We initially saw these guys situation as a dilemma; but God turned their dilemma into an opportunity. They walked away with more food than they could handle, silver, gold, clothes, etc. Because they took the first step at changing their situation, God stepped in and gave them more than they could receive. “…if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it…” They ended up so blessed with abundance that they felt guilty. They had to go back home and tell the rest of the city what God had done. They demonstrated “blessed to be a blessing.”

When we view our situations through the lenses of "fear" we create a dilemma. These four brothers would have never received their blessings if they had walked in a spirit of fear. Although they may have been concerned, they were not afraid. Fear can cause us to miss out on divine opportunities. When we view our situations through the lenses of "faith" we create opportunities.

How do we see our situations? Do we see them as dilemmas or opportunities? Are we looking through the lenses of fear of the lenses of faith? Situations in our lives won’t change for the better if we continue to do the same things that we have always done. We have to be like these brothers and take action to change our situations.

• Prayer is an action step to change our situations.

• Stepping out on faith is an action step to change our situations.

• Obeying the Word of God is an action step to changing our situations.

• Faith Confessions are action steps to change our situations.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.