A couple of weeks ago, I was walking around a college campus with my wife and our youngest son. The weather was not in our favor as we toured the campus. The wind was blowing, and insanely frigid air cut through our clothes and straight to our bones. As the young lady giving the tour saw us standing and shaking in the cold, she kept apologizing for the weather saying, “It’s never this cold here!”
We were on the campus for what most colleges call preview day. We know the routine, as we have been on these tours with our other two sons. The process of college admission these days can be daunting with all the boxes you need to check. Have you filled out the application? Have you taken the ACT? Have you sent in your transcript? Have you written your essay? What do you want to major in? And then the question we all enjoy (sarcasm), have you filled out the FAFSA? If you don’t know what the FASA is, don’t worry, you will one day. Even for seasoned veterans, the college process is not for the faint of heart. All I can say is I have the best wife. She is the glue of the Vinson family!
On this specific visit, there was an extra amount of nervousness my son was feeling as we stepped on campus and went through the process. My son is like his dad in this way, when he gets nervous about something, it is difficult for him to want to eat until the event is over. The nerves were brought on by a meeting with the cross country and track coach at 2:45 p.m. He has had a dream of wanting to run at the college level for some time. Unfortunately, this fall he had a set-back with an injury. What he needed was an opportunity, a chance. We just didn’t know if he would get one.
The highly anticipated time of 2:45 rolls around and we gather our items from the preview day. No one is saying a word in the car as we make the drive down to the track facilities. As a parent it is one of the helpless feelings when you are placed in an environment (whatever that might be) where you cannot help your child. All you can do is be with them.
Once we arrived at the track facilities, we made our way to the conference room. Still silent. A few minutes feel like an eternity. We sit down in the conference room with a large window facing the track. I can tell my son is nervous, and my wife and I are feeling all the feels.
Enter the coaches. Coaches aren’t really known for small talk, so he gets straight to the point. He says, “Well I have already signed some guys (long pause), but I looked up your times (long pause), and I would like to offer you an opportunity and give you a roster spot.” There was the word an “opportunity”. I don’t think I heard another thing he said after that statement. Later, after I came to my senses, and after a tour and a handshake, the head coach looked at our son and said, “let us know in a couple of weeks if you want the opportunity to run for us. We would be glad to have you.” And with that we were out the door.
While we were walking out to the parking lot with my mind still spinning, I looked at my son and said, “how about that for an opportunity.” My son looked back at me and had a big smile on his face and said, “Dad I am starving!” There is only one way to celebrate, it’s time to eat some Jesus Chicken (Chick-fil-a).
As we were driving home later in the evening, I had some time to reflect on the events of the day. I have recently been reading through the gospels for my devotional time. As I have been reading what has caught my attention in a new way is the confidence the people who approached Jesus had. When they are approaching Him, they seem to be asking for an opportunity. The opportunity to change a circumstance/situation they are encountering. For example, there are 37 miracles performed by Jesus that are recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It includes miracles such as turning water into wine, walking on water, feeding large crowds with few loaves of bread and fish, healing many sick and disabled people including those who were blind, deaf, mute or paralyzed, casting out demons, raising people from the dead and calming a storm at sea.
I could be mistaken, but I don’t remember Jesus ever turning people away. The more I reflect on what Jesus was doing, I am convinced it was not about providing the person with an opportunity to change the situation. Jesus seemed to always have a deeper meaning or purpose to what He was doing than what is understood at first glance. Maybe the opportunity is to trust in Jesus regardless of the opportunity we present to Him.
This made me think about my son and the opportunity before him. Today it is about running. However, you and I both know tomorrow it will be different opportunities: a job situation, a health crisis, financial challenges, family dysfunction, and a relational dilemma. When we encounter these opportunities, let’s do what we read in the Gospels. Let’s go with confidence to our heavenly Father. We can be certain there is more going on behind the scenes then these opportunities present. Will we have clarity of what is going on? The short answer is more than likely not. But we can know this, the opportunities before us just might be what God uses to kindly show us what he wants to teach us. Regardless of the circumstances you are currently encountering, you can be confident Jesus is always going to provide you with the opportunity to draw near to Him.
Sounds a little familiar doesn’t it?
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16