OPPORTUNITY
ENABLERS
©
Morris Ruddick
Dedicated
to the memory of Stephanie and Rachel Works
“
Look, I'm sending you out as sheep among wolves, so be wary
and wise as serpents but as harmless as doves, innocent and without
pretense. Be wary of men who will betray you, but know this will
yield opportunity, so do not be anxious, for your response will
be given to you by the Holy Spirit .” Matthew
10:16-20
In
these few words, Jesus outlined the context, the strategy, the
alternatives, the response and the expectation for those heeding
the call to make a difference.
Confronting
darkness where it counts, at the point of destruction's thrust,
will yield opportunity. It is the grand-strategy of Light against
darkness. It is the dimension where God's supernatural intervention
is the only option. It is the total reliance on faith and Kingdom
principles when it is all on the line. It is where the fire falls.
It pivots on change.
The
Dynamic
Change
that matters will not yield to simple idealism; nor will it result
from even the best of human achievement. The process, that brings
change to a generation, sparks the fire of God. Jesus said everyone
would be seasoned with fire (Mark 9). The Gospels also speak of
a baptism of fire, in addition to Jesus indicating that he had
come to cast fire upon the earth (Luke 12).
Hebrews
tells us that God is a consuming fire. The fire of God's presence
stops-cold the work, and consumes the entanglements of the enemy.
The fire of God is the source to the power that transforms.
Those
entrusted with a mantle of change bear a high calling, that requires
an increasingly deeper penetration into the place of His presence
and with that, a walk marked by fire. Those who wield the fire
must be prepared to walk through the fire.
The
mantle of change is a walk that was patterned by the life of Joseph,
who prevailed at each level and at the set-time, executed his
assignment with precision. He served to rescue his people from
the destruction unleashed to destroy them; and brought about change
that bestowed blessing and great benefit to all those under and
touched by his authority.
Joseph
is a graphic example of the cost and the process required of those
yielded to the higher calling that will change a generation and
make an impact for eternity. Joseph is the model for mobilizing
and dispensing the resources to bring the transformation that
harnesses a nation and people, to bring about God's redemptive
purposes, while serving as a gatekeeper for opportunity.
Yielding
to this higher calling, involves the willingness to face and walk
through the fires, as Joseph's prophetic gift and wisdom was tempered,
honed and refined to enable a clarity in discerning the voice
of the Lord in decisions of state. This tempered prophetic gift
and wisdom in Joseph was the catalyst to the power to penetrate
the lairs of darkness that released sequential turning points
that bore on the process that converged to impact eternity.
The
Process
Penetrating
the heart of darkness, to where opportunity yields, is at the
core of this process.
“
Look, I'm sending you out as sheep among wolves, so be wary
and wise as serpents but as harmless as doves, innocent and without
pretense. Be wary of men who will betray you, but know this will
yield opportunity, so do not be anxious, for your response will
be given to you by the Holy Spirit .” Matthew
10:16-20
Jesus
made it very clear in this sequence that in serving as His ambassadors,
not only would we be vulnerable, we would be sent to where the
duty is perilous and risky. The context of sheep among wolves
defines the setting. Yet, the Lord makes the strategy clear by
comparing the ways of two distinctly different creatures, a serpent
and a dove.
The
serpent knows when to stay put and be hidden; and when to traverse
its territory. When it moves, it does so quickly, skillfully,
silently and purposefully. It is wise and strategic. The dove,
on the other hand, gives no appearance of being a threat, as it
openly, but remotely goes about its everyday activities. It is
pure in heart.
Joseph
demonstrated his spiritual agility through his service. A key
Kingdom principle tied to leadership is that we lead by serving.
Before Joseph was sold into slavery, his dreams gave him a glimpse
into the significance of his calling. They actuated the faith
for him to prevail against adversity. At each level, prior to
his promotion to sit alongside of Pharaoh and his entrance into
the fullness of his calling, Joseph not only demonstrated faithfulness,
but he was recognized as the bearer of God's blessings by those
around him. He was wise, strategic and pure in heart.
“
The Lord was with Joseph and he was a successful man and everyone
saw that the Lord was with Joseph and made all that he did to
prosper .” Genesis 39: 2, 3
The
Snares
For
those with the mantle of change, snares can be expected. At the
most basic level, snares employ deception. As a slave, the snare
for Joseph would have involved him betraying his master. The snare
turned out to be double-sided and brought an ugly backlash, with
rejection and betrayal. This betrayal was a further mark of Joseph's
high calling; a calling which could not be accomplished through
his own abilities; but only through God. It accentuated the demonstration
of God's power that would be required to yield the turning point
of opportunity in this most unlikely situation. It was a part
of the fire tempering Joseph's unique anointing and gifts.
With
the examples of the serpent and the dove, Jesus provides insight
into the most prevalent snares employed against those serving
as His ambassadors of change. For the strategic, it is power and
achievement. For the pure in heart, it is idealism.
Achievement
. Achievement carries the same
potential for being an asset or a snare, for those who are strategic.
Achievement carries with it the potential for opportunity, but
not without the intoxicating lure of power. Power usurpers abound
and short-circuit the intentions of God at the point when change
yields opportunity. Jesus said: many are called, but few are chosen.
A wide swath of the religious elite of his day misused their positions
and callings. It is why Jesus selected and entrusted everyday
people to broker the opportunity that would come with His confrontation
and defeat of darkness.
Idealism
. Idealism is both the strength
and the snare for those who are pure in heart. Idealists point
the way for change. They create movements. Idealism also can miss
the forest for the trees. It has a tendency to throw out the baby
with the bathwater. The enemy of our souls wants to snare the
pure in heart with an idealism that is so utopian, it is out of
touch; with a religious spirit that reflects zeal without knowledge.
However, the pure in heart the enemy can't seem to entice with
his distorted form of idealism, become targets of destruction.
Yet even with that, they are promoted to serve as catalysts for
turning points of opportunity.
Betrayal
Betrayal,
by definition, comes from within. It is a false front or disloyalty.
Betrayal implies faithless actions from those who should otherwise
be trusted or considered on the same team. To betray is deliver
into the hands of the enemy in violation of a trust. Its result
destroys, sets back and undermines. Beyond the obvious dangers
represented by wolves, there lurk those whose intent and ways
demand wariness on our part. They are found among the sheep. They
are the betrayers.
Jesus
further defined betrayers as “ those who love greetings in
the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, the best places
at the feasts; who devour widow's houses and for a pretense make
long prayers .” While Jesus frequently pointed to the Pharisees
and Sadducees, he didn't do so en-mass. The gateway to Jesus'
betrayal came from his inner-circle and one who was part of a
politically zealous group. It was a band, whose misguided zeal
sought to activate change for God.
Yet,
the range of these betrayers all fit under the label Jesus referred
to as hypocrites. Hypocrites are pretenders and phonies. They
present one face while living another. Despite lip service to
the contrary, their quest for power is for their own purposes
and gain.
Opportunity
Joseph
rightfully tested his brothers. They had betrayed him. In his
role of dispensing the grain that would prevent starvation during
the prolonged famine, he understood that he was exactly where
God wanted him. Nevertheless, he did not need an eruption of unholy
fire from ones with their track record, to undermine the significance
of his task.
Joseph
was wary of his betrayers. Yet, he found his brothers remorseful
and so, he took the steps to close the gap and be restored to
those he loved most dearly. It not only was Joseph's finest hour,
it demonstrated the key dimension accompanying his calling; the
generous father's heart of an opportunity enabler.
While
Jesus warned us to be wary of and avoid betrayal; He also noted
that betrayal would happen. He explained that the backside of
betrayal would cause opportunity to yield. This would be the opportunity
that operates against the odds. It is opportunity that only God
can orchestrate. It is miraculous opportunity that transcends
the here and now in its impact.
“Have
you entered the treasury of snow or have you seen the storehouse
of hail which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the
day of battle and war?” Job 38: 22,23
“For
the LORD has opened His armory, and brought out the weapons of
His indignation; for this is the work of the Lord God of hosts.”
Jeremiah 50:25
When
betrayal comes, Jesus' word was to be confident in faith and start
looking for the opportunity. The faith-response to betrayal sparks
the change whereby opportunity yields.
Faith
and risk go hand in hand. Faith faces the challenges needed to
overcome the obstacles in order to seize the opportunities that
lie on the backside of the challenges. The greater the challenge;
the more significant the opportunity. It's why Jesus said we are
blessed when others revile, persecute and make evil statement
about us for His sake. (Matt 5)
The
leadership anointing, distinguished by opportunity yielding, is
marked by fire. It comes with a cost. It traverses that narrow
corridor between life and death. It carries a mantle that spits
in the eye of death as it walks through the valley of the shadow
of death. It's a pathway where angels converge. (Acts 12)
The
Opportunity Enablers
The
unique characteristics, of those bearing the mantle of generational
change, begin with an authority that challenges the status quo.
They operate outside the box. They prevail. They exhibit a maturity
that judges righteously, with a father's heart. When change yields,
they become the opportunity brokers. Joseph was an opportunity
broker. Opportunity brokers are equippers and community-builders.
They are enablers and dispensers.
In
other words, opportunity enablers operate uniquely to build community;
to facilitate, mobilize and equip others. Enablers bear the mark
of the highest calling among leaders. They don't build institutions
that serve to perpetuate their own existence. Their organizations
are outward-driven or integrated into the broader community. They
flow with a modus operandi that is consistently serving to extend
opportunity to others.
Long
ago, there was a pivotal tribe of Israel known as Issachar, who
understood the times and knew what to do. They were a comparatively
small tribe among the twelve, yet extremely potent in their function.
They stood at the point of change, knowing what to do. Within
the same context, Jesus admonished us to understand the times
and seasons.
The
status quo is the enemy of opportunity. Flashpoints of fire will
bring change. Change rightly responded to yields opportunity that
advances the Kingdom of God.
“
The wind goes toward the south and turns around to the north.
It whirls about continually and comes again on its circuit .”
Ecclesiastes 1:6
When
evil emerges; faith arises. When the fire falls; opportunity yields.
When destiny calls, the enablers arise.
“
There is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or father or mother or wife or children or lands for My sake and
the gospel's who shall not receive
a hundredfold now in this age, with persecutions—and in the age
to come, eternal life. But many
who are first will be last and the last first .” Mark 10:
29-31
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Morris
Ruddick is the founder of the God's Economy Entrepreneurial Program,
which imparts hope and equips believers in lands of oppression
and persecution as economic community builders. He is also the
author of “The Joseph-Daniel Calling” and “God's Economy, Israel
and the Nations,” each of which address God's mobilization of
the economic and community dimensions of His Word. They are available
from Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and other popular outlets.
2008
Copyright Morris Ruddick — info@strategic-initiatives.org
Reproduction
is prohibited unless permission is given by a SIGN advisor. Since
1996, the Strategic Intercession Global Network (SIGN) has mobilized
prophetic intercessors committed to targeting strategic-level
issues impacting the Body on a global basis. For more information
on SIGN, check: www.strategicintercession.org
