August 10, 2004

[Rev. Doc]

Opportunities

"Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity."
Colossians 4:5

Sometimes opportunities for serving God may be looking us right in the face. Our being a blessing in the lives of others may be before us. There may be times when events of life, some good and some not so good, must push us in the right direction to open our eyes to what God wants us to do.

The Irish Potato Famine (1846-1851) resulted in a 30 percent drop in the population of the west of Ireland. The prolonged suffering of the Irish peasantry had broken the survivors in body and spirit.

John Bloomfield, the owner of Castle Caldwell in County Fermanagh, was working on the recovery of his estate when he noticed that the exteriors of his tenant farmers' small cottages had a vivid white finish. He was informed that there was a clay deposit on his property of unusually fine quality. To generate revenue and provide employment on his estate, he built a pottery at the village of Belleek in 1857. The unusually fine clay yielded a porcelain china that was translucent with a glass-like finish. It was worked into traditional Irish designs and was an immediate success.

Today, Belleek's delicate strength and its iridescent pearlized glaze is enthusiastically purchased the world over. This multimillion-dollar industry arose from innovative thinking during some very anxious times.

Prayer: Ask God to help you make the most of every opportunity to glorify Him in your life.

"He who refuses to embrace a unique opportunity loses the prize as surely as if he had failed."
~William James