TAKE YOUR MOMENT

TAKE YOUR MOMENT
“See that you walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise.
Redeeming the time because the days are evil (Ephesians 5: 15-16)
To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose
 under the heaven (Eccl 3:1)”
In Christendom today there is a very common cliché you hear among believers – “I am waiting on the Lord”. When you examine that phrase, one is prompted to ask “are we really waiting on God or are we refusing to take or more aptly put, cease our moment. To wait is not to idle away, but to be busy doing the biddings of the Master.
The man who is idle will not even know when the opportunity comes calling or he may not be available at the time of his visitation. The bible said concerning Zachariah, that he was executing the priests’ office before God in the order of his course; as is the custom of the priests’ office, it was his lot to burn incense. An angel of the Lord appeared to him by the alter of incense, and said to him fear not, thy prayer has been heard, and your wife shall bear thee a son (Lk 1: 8-13).
There is a time for every man’s manifestation. Destiny is fulfilled when a man coincides with his moment. In Ecclesiates 9: 11, the bible said ‘ I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither  yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding , nor favour to men of skill, but TIME and CHANCE happeneth to them all” . My prayer for you is that you will not miss your moment and that you make the best of every opportunity.
The book of Esther 2: 5, talks about a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai. He has been carried from Jerusalem with the captivity. He had a niece whose name was Esther. It happened that there was vacancy in the palace by reason of the vacuum that was created by queen Vashti.  The king called for a banquet of his chamberlains to show off his queen to them because she was a beautiful woman. The queen refused to appear on the order of the king because at this time, the spirit of error has come upon her ‘because it’s somebody’s moment of promotion. The king’s servant that ministered to him had to seek for a fair young virgin for the king. Mordecai maximized the moment and presented Esther who the bible recorded was fair and beautiful. (Esther 2: 7) which are the very attributes that the king’s wife (Vashti) possessed (Esther 1: 11). When the virgins are paraded before the king, Esther was selected. That was how a stranger, without father or mother became the queen because somebody took advantage of the moment. Little wonder, when the lives of the Jews was threatened by Haman – the prime minister, Mordecai who understood time and season said to Esther “and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this”? (Esther 4: 14c).
A certain woman of the sons of the prophet cried unto Elisha and said that the husband’s creditors are coming to take her two sons as bondmen. The man of God asked the woman “what do you have”, and the woman said nothing but a little oil. Thank God - she almost missed that opportunity to redeem her children. God will always bless you from what He has given to you. He asked the woman to go and borrow empty vessels from all her neighbors with an instruction not to borrow a few. In our walk of destiny with God, the first step must be ours while the remaining ninety nine belongs to God. The prophet told the woman to lock herself behind with her children and fill the vessels she has borrowed after which she will sell the oil and use the proceeds to pay their creditors and live on the rest. Had the woman maximized that moment, she may not know lack again in her life. The bible recorded that when she had filled the last vessel, the oil stopped (2Kings 4: 6). If she had borrowed more vessels, that would have meant more oil. We determine the extent God will go with us.
A certain king was told by Prophet Elisha to shoot arrows through the window, and he did. He further asked him to smite the remaining arrows on the ground and the king did it three times. The prophet asked him why he stopped. He made him understand that the number of times he hit the ground determined the number of times he would defeat his enemies. His destiny was in his own hands like most of us and we don’t know it so we can take advantage.
The Shunamite woman in 2Kings 4: 8-9 perceived that Elisha was a man of God, and she constrained him to come to their place to eat bread. She didn’t stop there; she persuaded her husband that they should provide shelter for the man of God. And in return for their love and care, the greatest need of their life was met. How many of us have lost great opportunities because we despised a servant of God. Remember, the anointing you respect is the anointing you attract; and the anointing you sow into, is the anointing you can claim from. The way and manner you respond to the things of God will prolong or shorten your season. The man by the pool of Betheisda for 38 long years couldn’t cease the opportunity that come up seasonally, so he had to stay there for that long without getting his healing. It got so bad that even when Jesus asked him if he wanted to be made whole, he still did not know his moment has come, he started telling stories.
Beloved, to take your moment, you have to bear in mind the following:
• It’s your job to cease the moment.
• When you recognize your season, you don’t need the crowd.
• God will test you. God needs your participation in what he wants to do.
• Don’t hold on tight to what you have. Empty yourself.
• Withdraw and seek God’s face if you’ve lost touch with destiny
• Know that God speaks when you are alone.
• When you sense it’s your season, start making sacrifices.
In conclusion, be spiritually sensitive, hold on to the word of God, and take advantage of the opportunity when it presents itself.
Shalom

Pastor Peter Yakubu