Ride the Tide
By Larry d. Wright

The Bible talks about a number of doors, often with very different meanings. For instance, in Revelation 3:20 Jesus said, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” This is the door of intimacy with Christ. Don’t miss that door!

The Scripture also mentions the door of opportunity. For instance, Paul said, “…and pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.” (Colossians 4:3) The door of opportunity is mentioned a number of times in scripture, and it refers to the way that God gives wonderful openings for the gospel message to be shared. Our awesome God has limitedness ways in which He opens doors of opportunity for His children to walk through so that they fulfill their passion and accomplish His purpose. Don’t miss that door!

In the days before modern harbors, a ship had to wait for the flood tide before it could make it safely into port. The term for this situation in Latin was ob portu, that is, a ship standing off a port, waiting for the moment when it could ride the turn of the tide into the harbor.

The English word opportunity is derived from this original meaning. The captain and the crew were ready and waiting for that one moment for they knew that if they missed it, they would have to wait for another tide to come in. Shakespeare used this background of the exact meaning of opportunity into one of his most famous passages from Julius Caesar, Act 4, Scene 3:

“There is a tide in the affairs of men,Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their lifeIs bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,Or lose our ventures.”

When a door opens in your life, ride the tide!