And he said to his servants, ‘The Wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply.
—Matthew 22:8-12 NLT
One of my favorite Bible verses and life lessons can be found in Ecclesiastes 9:11 which keeps us reminded that “time and chance happen to them all.” This means that good Opportunities and chances really do happen for every single one of us; whether we are valuing those opportunities or not. Some things that we pray for are often placed closer to our grasps than many choose to acknowledge. However, there are two questions we can ask ourselves concerning these opportunities and “chance(s).” The first question we can ask is: Do we recognize and value our opportunities when they arrive? The second question we can ask is: Are we prepared and mature enough to rightfully handle our opportunities?
The reference verses above are a snapshot of Jesus illustrating the Kingdom of God through a story about a king. This king sent wedding invitations to guests who unfortunately rejected his invitation and their opportunity to attend this special wedding. So then the king gathered more guests to attend the function. One guest in particular accepted the king’s invitation, but his attire communicated that he was not prepared to partake in the opportunity he had received from the king.
In these particular verses, the first guests who rejected the king’s invitation represent religious people who reject the opportunity to enter into God’s rest even though they are religious and technically deserving of such an honor. So, in the parable, the king’s servants “brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike,” and filled the banquet hall with new guests for the wedding. These new invited guests represent non-religious people who also receive the great opportunity to enter into God’s rest.
Just like in the parable above about the Kingdom of God, we, ourselves do not have control over the opportunities and chances we receive or when we will receive them, but we do have control over what we do with our opportunities and chances once they arrive. Time and chance happen to them all. I often ask: If time and chance happen to them all, what are we doing with our time and what are we doing with our chances? Are we applying wisdom and properly utilizing what is allotted to us? Are we being good stewards over our time and chances? How are we handling and maximizing our opportunities—or what if, sometimes, we are taking our opportunities and chances for granted?
We must not be like the religious people who receive opportunities that they pray and prepare for, but still reject those opportunities and chances when they arrive. Neither should we be like the non-religious people who receive opportunities they think they are not worthy of, so they blow their opportunities and chances by simply not being prepared for them. Do you have eyes that see the opportunities and chances presented to you on a consistent, daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly basis? Each of us can challenge ourselves to make concerted efforts to recognize and be ready for opportunities (we are praying for) once they arrive—because, believe me, they do arrive. Time and chance happen [present continuous tense] to them all.
Lots of Love, XO
