“Time and tide wait for no one.” (St. Marher, 1225)
Imagine: It’s Saturday and a good friend will be arriving at 6 p.m. to pick you up for a concert. You’ve wanted to hear this band play for a long time, and now’s your big chance! While you’re waiting for the doorbell to ring, you lie on the sofa in your pajamas and watch a few hours of reality TV. Your friend knocks at the door. You answer it. He takes one look at you and shakes his head in disbelief, because YOU’RE NOT READY. He’s on a tight schedule, so he leaves without you. You just missed a golden opportunity. It’s gone. Kaput. Finito. Sayonara.
What were you thinking? Were you even thinking? You shrug, slump back on the couch and continue to watch the telly. Meanwhile, you’re kicking yourself for not being ready, an oversight that has cost you an opportunity to fulfill your dream of hearing that new band.
Every big dream or goal works pretty much like the scenario we just imagined. When an opportunity comes along to move a step closer to fulfilling your own dreams, you need to be ready. When David Gerrold was growing up he knew he wanted to be a science fiction writer. In his book, The Trouble with Tribbles, he explains in the first chapter, “Getting Ready for Opportunity’s Knock,” how he got an opportunity to write a script for a major television SF drama. It was Gerrold’s FIRST script ever and, once filmed and telecast, it proved to be one of the most popular episodes of the original Star Trek. Gerrold had made writing a successful script look easy, but he explains that it didn’t just happen:
“…I spent a lifetime training to be a Star Trek writer — even before I knew there was going to be a Star Trek… But even if it hadn’t been Star Trek, it would have been something (else). That was the direction I was moving in. And Star Trek was the opportunity….”
Gerrold also points out that “…I was ready for the opportunity when it did occur. The G*O*L*D*E*N O*P*P*O*R*T*U*N*I*T*Y isn’t worth a damn thing unless you’re prepared to meet it. …Once you make a decision to do something or to be something, start preparing for it immediately.“
Like Gerrold, we may not know when or where our big break might come, but while we’re waiting for it, we need to be learning, studying, training, practicing, and watching for it; taking the right steps, or at least trying to take steps, down the path to our goals. Don’t wait till someone’s ringing the doorbell to put your pants on. By then, it may be too late to get dressed. The delivery man has a schedule to keep, and he’ll probably leave long before you can get to the door. If this happens to you, let’s just hope he leaves your “dream delivery” on the front step.
“I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close.” (Revelation 3:8 NLT)