Jump Start # 1236

Colossians 4:3 praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned

This week is Thanksgiving. A thankful heart is part of the makeup of a Christian. To be thankful is to appreciate a blessing and to recognize the effort and cost that made it possible. It is easy to be superficial with our thankfulness and to get fixed upon the same things, such as, our jobs, family, health. Those are all important but our thanks ought to go much further and deeper. We are to sing with thankfulness. We are express our thankfulness. We remember the nine lepers who were healed by Jesus, but never came back to thank Him. The one who did, a Samaritan, caught the attention of Jesus.

This week, I want to explore some things that have made a difference in our lives and that we may forget to be thankful for. Today, I want to consider the wonderful opportunities that have been presented to us in our lives. Everyone has them. Most would not be where they are today, if it wasn’t for those opportunities. Consider such things as:

• A program at a school that you applied for and received. That education and training made it possible for other doors to be opened in your life.

• A company that hired you when you were green and new and took a chance on you. Because of that experience you were able to move on to other jobs. That line on most applications, “three to five years experience” always shut doors. But there was that one place, the first place, that hired you without that experience. What an opportunity that was.

• A church that allowed a young man to give his first lessons. He was raw, disjointed and pretty simplistic. But that church was patient. They may have allowed that young man to enter into a training program and years later, he is a seasoned preacher. What an opportunity that was for him.

Most can look back and see the open door, the mentor who believed, the coach who took a chance on us, the opportunity that was made available. Sure we had to stick with it. Sure there was a lot of hard work, learning and molding. But had that first door never opened, we may have gone down a different path.

I look in my life and at the time you don’t really see what a great opportunity and opened door that stands before you, but it is. Five years after I was baptized I was preaching full time. But within those five years there were many congregations that allowed me, challenged me and pushed me to preach. Great men like Bob Dickey and L.A. Stauffer saw something that I never saw. They got me up in front of congregations, months after I became a Christian. I didn’t know much. They helped. They pointed me in the right direction, filled my arms with books and filled my heart with the love of Christ and the joy of preaching the Gospel. I really expect that I probably wouldn’t be where I am now if I didn’t have those open doors.

Opportunity, a chance, is so important. Our verse today, is about such things. Paul was praying for an open door to preach. Just give me an opportunity is what Paul prayed. He realized that the opened doors came from Heaven. It was God who provided such opportunities. So he prayed. He prayed for more doors to be opened.

This leads us to these thoughts:

First, we need to be thankful for the opportunities and opened doors in our lives. Have you thanked God for the people who gave you a chance? What a difference those opened doors have made.

Second, it is important to see what a game changer and life experience those opportunities are. We need to be the one who is now opening doors for others. There is that person who, lacking much experience, is just wanting a chance. Look in their eyes. See their determination. Can you sign that letter than may help them get that scholarship, that job, that opportunity. Put your hand on that doorknob and open it for someone else.

Congregations need to see the value and importance of allowing young men to lead singing, give lessons and do things publicly. Most preachers today would not be doing what they are had not some church long ago gave them a chance. It takes patience as a church to do this. It takes some one with the heart of a mentor to fine tune and give great tips to these young guys. But who knows that in doing this, one of them will decide that he wants to devote his life to preaching. It all starts somewhere.

Third, share your story, your life lessons, your insights with others. Help the guy below you. Make the road easier for him. The school of hard knocks teaches like no other school and experience will help so much, but some mistakes can be avoided, some pains do not have to be experienced if we only tutored someone else. Be kind about this, not arrogant. Be helpful. Understand everyone has their own style and own way of doing things. I see Paul shaping and helping Timothy. I see the trust, the love and the long conversations that helped Timothy carry on in such a fine fashion. Timothy would never have been the way he was had it not been for Paul. It all started when Timothy was young, possibly late teens. Paul saw something in him. He wanted to take Timothy with him. They were traveling long and far from home. The journey would not always be smooth nor safe. Timothy’s parents allowed him to go. Parents must do this sometimes. It’s hard. We want our babies to stay close to home where we can watch them. But sometimes the best opened door is not close to home. Sometimes allowing them that chance to catch a dream is something that parents must do.

The congregation that I now work with is made up of some of the finest people that I have ever met. When the leadership first contacted me about moving here to work with them, they took a chance. They didn’t know me and I didn’t know them. I believe God was opening doors. What a rich and powerful journey it has been so far.

Some people dream dreams and others live those dreams. Some talk about all the things that they wanted to do, but they never did. They never took that chance. Chasing dreams is risky. Sometimes you fail. Sometimes you fall. Sometimes you find out that there are other dreams greater than the one you started with. But in pursuing those dreams, there are those open doors, those opportunities, that turn those dreams into reality.

This day, put some thought into the people and the places that opened doors for you. It probably starts with your parents. Give the Lord some thanks for those people and places that gave you a chance. Thank the Lord for being there. Thank the Lord for people that have made you a better person.

I have found that open doors is not just a thing for young people. Doors continually are opened throughout all of our lives. One door that surprisingly opened for me, is through these Jump Starts. I would have never dreamed that they have gone as far reaching and would have touched as many lives as they have. Open doors. We all have them.

Thank you, Lord.

Roger