Wasted Opportunities
Wasted Opportunities
Numbers 14: 3-4
The tragedy of wasted opportunities.
So often, this is the story of our lives.
We stand on the threshold of an opportunity to do something good, and to better ourselves
and maybe, to better the world.
But for one reason or another, we left the opportunity slip away.
This was the case of the Israelites.
The Israelites had gotten to the edge of the Promised Land when the people became frightened
and discouraged and began to murmur against Aaron Moses, saying, " Let's go back to Egypt."
They were meant for the Promised Land, and they were at the very edge of it, but decided that
it would be better to go back than to go forward.
Let us look at some of the reasons why they turned back.
Many are the same reasons why we often miss our opportunities.
There are many opportunities presented to us to better our lives and to make a difference,
but we miss them.
We head back to Egypt.
Why?
Why do we?
There are times that we want to go back to Egypt because we are afraid to go forward.
Israel's advance scouts said the land was " a land of milk and honey."
But it would be a difficult land to settle.
It would require a tremendous amount of work and sacrifice.
And there are people already there, and they are giants. (Sons of Anak)
By comparison, the majority of the scouts saw themselves as grasshoppers.
They were terrified.
They certainly were not ready to do battle with giants.
So, they were frightened and decided that they would rather go back to Egypt.
At least they would be alive in Egypt.
This is often true in our lives.
When we face many opportunities, we are fearful.
We are afraid of crime, cancer, pollution, taxes…
We are afraid of meaningless failures, and we are afraid of what other people think of us.
Many of us are afraid of what is new -- we are afraid of change.
We tend to define life in terms of what we fear.
There is much to fear.
As we think to about the future we might be fearful of it.
We are paralyzed, and afraid of what the future might hold in store for us.
There are many giants ahead of us, and they are frightening.
But while the giants are there, God is also there.
God brought the Israelites out of Egypt.
God took care of them all through the wilderness.
And God will provide for them in the Promised Land.
God will handle the giants, and God will handle the problems.
But they did not take the Promised Land because fear had conquered their faith.
There are times that we long for Egypt when we have forgotten what Egypt was like.
These Israelites were saying, " Remember how Egypt was? Let's go back there, remember Egypt?"
But the tragedy of that was they didn't remember what Egypt was like.
Egypt was a place of agonizing slavery and excruciating cruelty.
They would rather have the security of slavery than the responsibility of freedom.
This was tragic!
And this is true today for there are many who are selling their souls for security.
The Israelites were wanting to go back to Egypt, but they had forgotten that Egypt was
a literal hell on earth for them.
We are living in a day where people are worshiping nostalgia.
We collect the relics of the past and listen to the music of the past.
We are interested in the history of the past and the people of the past.
There are so many people who long for " the good old days."
When I hear that, I want to say, " What good old days?"
" Where were they?"
Since the turn of the century, we've been involved in so many wars that we came even count them.
Since the turn of the century, we have lived through a terrible depression and recession.
In fact, we're going through a terrible recession now with thousands of people without jobs,
banks are bankrupt and major companies are closing, thousands and thousands of houses
are in foreclosure.
Crime has been on the rise, and gangs rule many neighborhoods, and innocent people are being
gunned down on the streets.
Parents are killing their children.
Drugs and alcohol are taking our society down the drain.
And there is spiritual emptiness everywhere.
It is true that the days in which we are living could be the best days that we will ever know.
That will depend whether or not we will have the kind of faith in the goodness and grace
and the presence and the power of God.
I believe that we can do some wonderful things in this time in which we live.
This depends not on the time we live in, than more on the faith in which we live.
The God who led the people out of Egypt to the Promised Land is the same God who can do
the same thing for us.
He can lead us out of the Egypt of our despair into the joy of abundant life.
Then, there are times that we longed for Egypt because we don't have the commitment to go forward.
The Israelites didn't take the Promised Land because they didn't want to pay the price for it.
It wouldn't be easy.
It would take much sacrifice.
It would take work.
It would be difficult.
It would be dangerous.
They didn't want any of that.
They wanted God to deliver them from slavery.
They wanted God to provide for them in the wilderness.
They wanted it to be easy.
God's answer was, " You can have the Promised Land, and I will help you get it.
But you will have to go and take it.
You will have to fight for it.
You will have to be totally committed."
They didn't want to do that.
They had been taken care of, and they didn't want to do anything that was difficult and dangerous.
And they didn't!
We would like to have a Promised Land flowing with milk and honey where there is a real love.
And one where there is joy and happiness and laughter.
And we would like to be confident and hopeful and to live in faith.
Our problem is that we want God to hand it to us on a silver platter.
We don't want to pay the price for it.
We want the benefits of the kingdom, but we do not want the responsibilities of the kingdom.
We want the glories of the cross without the sacrifice and the suffering of it.
We want victory without commitment.
Jesus laid down the condition of discipleship when He said,
" If any will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."
We often talk about the Promised Lands which we want.
We would like to have a Christian home.
But there is a price to pay.
The price includes love, unselfishness, honesty, kindness, patience, long-suffering, faithfulness,
a forgiving spirit, understanding…
We would like to live in a Christian community.
We would have to pay the price for that also.
That means involvement, faithfulness, a love for others, willingness to share, compassion…
We would like to have a good, dynamic church, but there is a price to pay for that also.
It would require a faithfulness in worship, a willingness to serve in the the ministry
and missions of the church.
It would mean to be faithful in the giving of our offerings and the paying of our tithes.
It would mean that we would visit the sick, comfort the bereaved, and reach out to those
who are without Christ.
If we want the benefits and the blessings of the Christian life, then we must be committed to do
as Christ commanded, " Take up your cross daily and follow me.
For if you lose your life for my sake, you will find it."
Are you willing to pay the price?
The tragedy is that there are many missed opportunities.
The Israelites missed their chance for the Promised Land because they were afraid.
We must not forget that God is with us.
We must take God at His word.
We must trust God.
Matthew 13: 58: " And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief."
How many mighty works of God have we missed?
The future is before us.
God will help us, and we must move forward.
So, we must head for the Promised Land, and we will discover that God is with us.
We can not go back to Egypt.
If we do, we will miss the blessings and the benefits of the Promised Land.
It is the Promised Land or Egypt?
Which one will it be in your life?