There are chances we will not take, opportunities we will not seize, paths we will not walk in and levels we will not rise to, not because we are cowardly its because we did not recognize them.
You cannot walk through an open door you did not see, you cannot seize opportunities you did not recognize and you cannot get to heights you didn't know the stairways to them exist.
A very long time ago, a lady called Hagar and her son had ran out of supplies- food and water.
The ground was dry, the sun was scorching and there seemed to be no oasis in sight.
It was an arid environment.
She lay her thirteen year old son on the ground, it was the only bit of shade she could find, away from the intensity of the sun. He was crying, his name is Ishmael.
Ishmael is the first born son of Abraham the Patriarch of faith, his mother Hagar was the maid of Sarah the wife of Abraham.
By a twist of fate, Hagar would be considered a secondary wife of Abraham through conception and her being given to Abraham by Sarah her boss. Sarah, unfortunately had suffered barrenness.
Hagar, a much younger and fertile female than Sarah conceived easily, this cemented her place in the household and in time she became conceited.
Sarah would have her own son in the fullness of time by nothing short of a miraculous conception and birth, Isaac was born, the son of promise.
Hagar's overrating herself in the household by despising her mistress was a step too far.
It cost her.
Her mistress would not have it.
She and her son had to leave, her son was also taunting Isaac like older siblings tend to do to their younger siblings.
Sarah was dissatisfied.
So Hagar and her son left.
She and her son were sent off with food and drink by Abraham, it was a tough decision.
With time, their food and drink ran out and Hagar found herself right where I described.
Ishmael her son was crying
God heard the cry of the boy for Abraham's sake.
Abraham is a chosen one and a man who was in covenant with God, The blessing of God spread to his children Ishmael and Isaac
So, the Lord opened the eyes of Hagar and she saw a well not far from her!
If the Lord did not open her eyes she would not have seen it!
The well was her breakthrough, the well was her ticket to survive, the well was God having mercy on her and her son.
Hagar survived, Ishmael survived, and they didn't die because the Lord opened her eyes.
Some people didn't make it in life because they didn't recognize what was set before them, they failed to see the blessing, the opportunity, the open door presented to them.
They couldn't see and seize the opportunity around them.
We don't have to be like that.
Ishmael grew up to become a mighty hunter, a fine man who made his mother proud.
He had twelve sons who became twelve sheiks.
Ishmael is the father of the Islamic/Arabic lineage.
It is important the eyes of our understanding is opened.
Its important important our eyes are opened to opportunities, God given opportunities.
May the eyes of our understanding be opened.
It is great if our spiritual eyes are opened too, even unto discernment.
It is worth praying that God should open our eyes to see what He wants us to see.
Not all opportunities come in lovely packages.
Some opportunities around us are not seen for what they are because they are disguised as hard work, challenges or battles.
Some opportunities will come as ideas that are not common, as ridiculous instructions that go against logic and as open doors many are not walking through.
Some people miss opportunities because they don't want to be different.
They want to do what everyone else is doing, they want to go where everyone else is going, they want their life to follow the path and pattern everyone else's is following .
They do not want to follow a new path, they want to be copycats not originals.
Making the most of life will require seizing opportunities.
It will also require courage.
It takes courage to stand, to follow unpopular paths and do what God wants us to do.
It takes courage to live different. It takes courage to trust, it takes courage to go in an opposite direction and it takes courage to do what is right or invest in things others are not seeing.
God opening our eyes can be God opening our eyes to physical provision, spiritual truths, and heavenly realities.
"Then God opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well full of water. She quickly filled her water container and gave the boy a drink."
Genesis 21:19
The Lord opened the eyes of Balaam the misguided prophet to avoid being killed by the angel of the Lord right in front of him with a drawn sword which his donkey saw but he didn't see initially.
God opened the eyes of Gehazi the servant of Elisha to see the heavenly army around him and his master during a time of danger.
The natural and spiritual eyes of Saul of Tarsus of was opened after going blind for three days as a result of his encounter with the light of Jesus Christ which is brighter than the sun on the Damascus road.
Opened eyes gives us a new dawn, a new season, a new reality, a new identity, new opportunities and new encounters!
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