Browsing Tag

Opportunity

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Water Under the Bridge

Posted on January 10, 2024

I say that I cannot control the consequences of that past moment—“That is water under the bridge.” 

God still controls all the water whether it has passed under my bridge or not. He made the waters above and below the firmament. He turned water into blood. He caused great mudslides in the era of the Judges. He cleansed a sinful world with it while the faithful were in the ark. He walked on it. Surely he can redeem the proverbial water under my bridge. That’s His work of redemption. 

I say “That ship has sailed.” 

God says, “There are three things that are too wonderful” for my comprehension. One of those things is “the way of a ship in the middle of the sea”  (Proverb 30:18,19). God knows every path and deep current of the sea (Psalm 8:6-8). He has dominion!  He can promise an apostle that land will be reached without loss of life. He can place Jonah directly from the mouth of a great fish onto the dry land—the beach of opportunity. He can erupt the fountains of the deep (Proverb 8:28,29). Even my idioms about lost opportunities are not applicable when God is the Redeemer. 

I say “That door has closed”

God says “Knock and it shall be opened.” 

Sometimes the day is very dark and the future looks bleak. But there’s really only one point when the barge of your life has sailed; when the door of all opportunity is closed. We all have an appointment with death. Until then, let’s trust. Let’s trust that our Redeemer replaces lost opportunities with new ones.

The opportunity of attaining forgiveness and starting again is the most tragic of lost opportunities. Someone has said that opportunity often comes wearing overalls and it looks like too much like work. Sometimes opportunity is demanding and a little dirty and it looks too much like sacrifice. 

The rich man in Luke 16 had an opportunity. He could have gone out to the gate where Lazarus  was lying and taken advantage of God’s powerful redemption at any point prior to his own death. But his ship had sailed at the point of the lifting of his eyes, being in torment. And he wished for just one drop of water to cool his tongue. There was no remaining opportunity. The water he desperately wanted was now “under the bridge”. 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Three Doors…Oh, for a Morning Like This Again!

Posted on October 3, 2021

I have some difficult things to do today. Really hard things. As I’m getting ready to go and do them, I’ve come across my notes from another weekday morning five years ago. I pray that I will see open doors today–  doors d. This was worth remembering….

SISTER TO SISTER: THREE DOORS

Posted on October 3, 2016

14481964_10153793830326384_7614171791050123724_oThese days, my siblings and I are spending more time than ever at my Dad’s house in Jacksonville, Alabama. I love being there, though the stretches away from hearth and home and husband make me wish I could be in two places at once. And there’s Waffle House. I love the way the servers (Dad calls them “nurses”….He has always called waitresses “nurses”.) are so very attentive to him. They start cooking his meal and setting his steaming coffee on the table when they see our car drive up. They open every little plastic container of creamer or jelly for him when they bring them to the table, knowing that his arthritic hands have difficulty pulling the tiny tabs to open them. Like I said, there’s lots to love about that kind of service. And the food is good…once…or twice…or even three times a week. But that many times a day is a bit much for my palate, not to mention my calorie count. 

Still, it’s not really about me at this stage. It’s about taking him where he would go all by himself, if he could, since we are really trying hard to get him not to be going places all by himself. It’s about a lot more than food these days. Sitting by the window in Waffle House watching the JSU world revolve outside the window with my sweet 94-year-old father is capital fun for me. We watch kids walking dogs and policemen pulling over cars and reflections of what all’s happening at the Grub Mart in the back glass. I show him pictures of his great grandchildren on my phone and he marvels at all the game scores, driving distances and names of famous athletes that I can call to his memory by a simple search on such a small device. The man who waited for the automobile to become a common mode of transportation marvels as I explain to him what exactly is a podcast and how women can interact during a podcast discussion—women from all over the world. 

So last Wednesday morning as he laboriously climbed the stairs at the entrance of Waffle House, I noticed a middle-aged lady holding the door open for my father. I smiled at her and thanked her for waiting patiently as he approached the door. She looked at my dad and said “Well, today I’ve already eaten, so I won’t get to eat my breakfast with you. But I hope you have a good one!”

I said, “:”Sounds like you’ve met Dad before…”

She responded “Sure did. I ate breakfast with him the other day and I told him ‘Your money’s no good with me!”

I thanked her for being so kind—to share a meal with him and then buy his breakfast. As he ambled on in, she said “Well, I enjoyed it. But really, on that day, I just thought about “what would Jesus do?…What would he want me to do?…and I decided He’s want me to do something good for a sweet elderly man.”

At that moment, I knew that there was more than one open door at the Waffle House. so I took the conversation to the next level: “That’s just so kind of you. I love my Jesus and I love to study the Bible. In fact…” At that point I went on to tell her about Digging Deep, and our study this year about types and shadows. I told her that I would love for her to join us and that my favorite thing to do is to study the Bible with people. I asked her if she would think about joining our group and even studying with me personally. “I’m all about Bible Study…”

“I sure will!” she said. “Stuff like this doesn’t happen by accident,” she went on, as I gave her my card with contact information. “I’ll be looking you up!”

Two doors were open. She thought she’d hold open a glass door for my father to walk through. She really was holding a golden door of opportunity open for me. I’m glad I could walk through it. I’m glad I had my wallet with that card to hand her. I’m thankful for His Providence at this moment and so many others. 

I’m not sure I believe that nothing happens by accident. But I do believe He is constantly orchestrating events to work for the good of His people (Romans 8:28). I hope she’ll pursue her opportunity now. I hope she’ll knock, so her door, too, can be opened (Matthew 7:7).

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Sister to Sister: God Can Find Lost Opportunities

Posted on June 27, 2017

Song then…

 

Yesterday I sat beside my sweet niece, Song, during Bible class and morning worship.  The lesson we had just heard was largely about opportunities, so in the intermission, she shared something that had been in her heart for the last few months.

Song had a close childhood friend. We’ll call her Anna Beth. They had been in lots of the same activities as young children, but Song’s family moved several hundred miles away before they entered the teen years. They exchanged a letter or two, but drifted apart and lost contact for the next ten or twelve years. Song, from a strong Christian family, became a Christian shortly after moving away. Anna Beth’s family, however, was not part of the body of Christ.

Song now…

Song grew and grew as a Christian and so did her sense of responsibility to the lost. She thought about Anna Beth and how that she had lost contact with her before she, herself, had ever really had the maturity to know the full importance of even speaking with others about their souls. But Song had loved Anna Beth and she wanted to make a connection with her again and tell her about the way to heaven. She wanted to share eternity with this sweet “old” friend.

She looked on Facebook, but she could not find her, so Song just began to pray for Anna Beth. She prayed that, even if she was never able to reconnect with Anna Beth, that someone would connect with her—someone who could share the gospel with her. 

After several months of praying about Anna, Song was looking through her Facebook birthday wishes from friends on the evening of her birthday. She noticed a friend request from someone listed simply as  Anna Elizabeth. Her heart skipped a beat as she wondered “Could this be Anna Beth?” Clicking on the friend request, Song recognized the profile picture immediately and excitedly accepted the request. Then she noticed that Anna Beth’s profile said “In a relationship with” and named her boyfriend. We’ll call him David Price.

“I know him!” Song exclaimed. “He’s a Christian and he goes to Bible camp with me every summer!” Song and David had grown up in Bible camp together and now they are both counselors in the camp.

Song called her Dad, who directs the camp,  to tell him the good news. He, of course, remembered the dear little friendship of so many years ago and took great joy in the news that Anna Beth was once again connected to Christianity. And then he remembered.

“Wait!” Song’s Dad said. You know one of the camp counselors told me that David Price’s girlfriend was recently baptized and that she will be coming to help at camp this year!” 

So that was that. As I spoke with Song, the two girls had just enjoyed an amazing week reconnecting, not just as friends, but this time as sisters.  Song’s words as she finished the story were these: “It wasn’t anything I did, of course, but it sure shows what the One Who is hearing our prayers can do!”

I know you are praying for new opportunities. I hope we all remember to pray for old and lost opportunities, too. Because we never know what the One Who is hearing our prayers may be doing!

 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Guest Writer: Caleb Colley on Norma McCorvey

Posted on February 23, 2017

 Today I hope you will read from Caleb Colley if you haven’t already read this. Caleb’s been an advocate for babies in the womb since he was about six years old when he stood in his first pro-life chain in Roanoke, Virginia. He started a collegiate chapter of National Right to Life on the campus of Freed Hardeman University while he was a student there in 2003.  This week, he writes about the death of Norma McCorvey. (you can subscribe to Caleb’s blog at http://www.calebcolley.com.)

In 1973, nine men in black robes made a decision that resulted in the legalization of elective abortion in the United States. Somewhere in that judicial picture, as that case began, there was one…just one little life hanging in the balance. That baby was born due to the extended period of time it took to complete the court case. But, as a result of Roe vs. Wade,  5o-plus million other little beating hearts have been stopped. There are many sad truths and lessons to be learned from the American massacre that continues today. But here are two important lessons for Christians from a look at Norma McCorvey, the mother who started it all back in 1971. Here’s Caleb:

Norma McCorvey, better known by the pseudonym “Roe” in the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, passed away this week due to heart failure. She was 69 years old.1

McCorvey was the plaintiff in a case that challenged Texas’ anti-abortion laws in 1971. By the time the Supreme Court decided the case, it was too late for McCorvey to have an abortion, and she had given up her baby for adoption. But the Roe v. Wade decision legalized elective abortion in the United States, and has led to the murder of over 50 million innocent babies.

Ironically and thankfully, this very woman, whose pseudonym was used in the legalization of elective abortion, later learned that abortion is murder and does great harm to women. Norma McCorvey confessed Christ and publicly fought against abortion. She spent the last years of her life speaking out on behalf of the preborn, unprotected children of America, writing a book about her transformation and founding a nonprofit advocacy group called Roe No More. She even filed a motion in Dallas in 2003 to have Roe v. Wade overturned. (Unfortunately this motion was dismissed by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2004.)

Here are two important, biblical lessons we can learn from McCorvey’s fascinating story:

  1. Even those most opposed to the truth today may change tomorrow. If Norma McCorvey can make a 180-degree turn on an issue as fundamental as the sanctity of all human life, do you suppose that your neighbor or friend can make a 180-degree turn toward Christ? “The Lord is … patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). The anti-Christian Saul of Tarsus can become the great apostle Paul (see Acts 22).

  2. We may be unable to fully reverse the impact of our choices tomorrow, so we must serve Christ today. While McCorvey’s change from pro-death advocate to pro-life advocate is laudable, we cannot help but be saddened by the fact that she could not change the outcome and many effects of the Roe decision in her lifetime. Undoubtedly the pro-death movement would have found another plaintiff to use in the fight for abortion rights if McCorvey had not been there, and yet she did play a role. Many effects of her influence were irreversible, and the effects of our sins today may not be reversible tomorrow. Recall that Judas threw the blood money back at the chief priests and elders, but could not reverse the betrayal of Jesus (Matthew 27:3-10).

  1. Details from this article taken from Eliza Collins, “Norma McCorvey, ‘Roe’ in Roe v. Wade, is dead at 69,” USA Today (2017); Nicholas Frankovich, “What Motivated Norma McCorvey to Defend Unborn Children,” National Review, http://www.nationalreview.com/article/445095/norma-mccorvey-dies-roe-v-wade-christian-catholic-conversion-abortion-prolife-dignity-human-person (2017). ↩
Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Sister to Sister: Three Doors

Posted on October 3, 2016

14481964_10153793830326384_7614171791050123724_oThese days, my siblings and I are spending more time than ever at my Dad’s house in Jacksonville, Alabama. I love being there, though the stretches away from hearth and home and husband make me wish I could be in two places at once. And there’s Waffle House. I love the way the servers (Dad calls them “nurses”….He has always called waitresses “nurses”.) are so very attentive to him. They start cooking his meal and setting his steaming coffee on the table when they see our car drive up. They open every little plastic container of creamer or jelly for him when they bring them to the table, knowing that his arthritic hands have difficulty pulling the tiny tabs to open them. Like I said, there’s lots to love about that kind of service. And the food is good…once…or twice…or even three times a week. But that many times a day is a bit much for my palate, not to mention my calorie count. 

Still, it’s not really about me at this stage. It’s about taking him where he would go all by himself, if he could, since we are really trying hard to get him not to be going places all by himself. It’s about a lot more than food these days. Sitting by the window in Waffle House watching the JSU world revolve outside the window with my sweet 94-year-old father is capital fun for me. We watch kids walking dogs and policemen pulling over cars and reflections of what all’s happening at the Grub Mart in the back glass. I show him pictures of his great grandchildren on my phone and he marvels at all the game scores, driving distances and names of famous athletes that I can call to his memory by a simple search on such a small device. The man who waited for the automobile to become a common mode of transportation marvels as I explain to him what exactly is a podcast and how women can interact during a podcast discussion—women from all over the world. 

So last Wednesday morning as he laboriously climbed the stairs at the entrance of Waffle House, I noticed a middle-aged lady holding the door open for my father. I smiled at her and thanked her for waiting patiently as he approached the door. She looked at my dad and said “Well, today I’ve already eaten, so I won’t get to eat my breakfast with you. But I hope you have a good one!”

I said, “:”Sounds like you’ve met Dad before…”

She responded “Sure did. I ate breakfast with him the other day and I told him ‘Your money’s no good with me!”

I thanked her for being so kind—to share a meal with him and then buy his breakfast. As he ambled on in, she said “Well, I enjoyed it. But really, on that day, I just thought about “what would Jesus do?…What would he want me to do?…and I decided He’s want me to do something good for a sweet elderly man.”

At that moment, I knew that there was more than one open door at the Waffle House. so I took the conversation to the next level: “That’s just so kind of you. I love my Jesus and I love to study the Bible. In fact…” At that point I went on to tell her about Digging Deep, and our study this year about types and shadows. I told her that I would love for her to join us and that my favorite thing to do is to study the Bible with people. I asked her if she would think about joining our group and even studying with me personally. “I’m all about Bible Study…”

“I sure will!” she said. “Stuff like this doesn’t happen by accident,” she went on, as I gave her my card with contact information. “I’ll be looking you up!”

Two doors were open. She thought she’d hold open a glass door for my father to walk through. She really was holding a golden door of opportunity open for me. I’m glad I could walk through it. I’m glad I had my wallet with that card to hand her. I’m thankful for His Providence at this moment and so many others. 

I’m not sure I believe that nothing happens by accident. But I do believe He is constantly orchestrating events to work for the good of His people (Romans 8:28). I hope she’ll pursue her opportunity now. I hope she’ll knock, so her door, too, can be opened (Matthew 7:7).