I once heard a parable about a man who got caught in a flood. He climbed up onto the roof of his house and prayed that God would rescue him. Right after praying, a neighbor came by in a canoe and said, “the waters are continuing to rise, hop in and I will paddle to safety.” But the man answered, “no thanks, I’ve prayed to God and I’m sure that he’s going to rescue me.” Minutes after that a man came by in a motorboat and said, “the waters are rising; jump aboard and I will sail you to safety.” But the man answered, “no thanks, I’ve prayed to God and I’m sure that he’s going to rescue me.”  Sometime after that, a helicopter rescue team hovered over his house and let down a rope ladder. From inside someone shouted, “the waters are continuing to rise and they will soon cover your house, grab hold of the ladder and we will fly you to safety. But once again the man answered, “no thanks, I’ve prayed to God and I’m sure that he’s going to rescue me.” Meanwhile, the water continued to rise until it covered the man’s house and he later drowned. When the man arrived in heaven he immediately asked God, “Lord why am I here? I trusted that you were going to save me.”  The Lord replied, I sent you a canoe, a boat, and a helicopter but you never got in.

It’s true that opportunities are everywhere. But they’re of no value to you unless you grab on to them. So, how do you recognize and take advantage of the opportunities that are present in your life?

First, do not be pessimistic.

Every week I meet with people seeking direction for their lives. They arrive mainly with financial, relational or health problems. In almost every situation I offer them a practical and applicable Biblical solution. Those who come with a negative attitude, no matter what I tell them are going to leave as discouraged as they arrived and in some instances even worse. This is not due to lack of opportunity, but rather because they did not think the opportunity was going to work or because they were so pessimistic that they never saw the opportunity right in front of them.  

Second, cheer up.

When you remove pessimism from the situation it allows you to see the many opportunities around you. If you’re a pessimist you’ll see complications in every opportunity but if you’re an optimist you’ll see opportunities for bigger and better in every complication. Now, optimism in and of itself is not going to change your circumstance, eventually, you’ll have to grab hold of the opportunities and jump into the canoe, or the boat or climb the ladder into the helicopter.

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength. – Proverbs 17:22 NLT