In our previous meditation, we learned of the need for believers to face the mission of the gospel without fear. The bearing of our meditation today is for the believers to find their respective mission field; that is, the specific thing that God wants them to do. Ecclesiastes 3 states that there is a season for everything and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A corollary of that is this: to every purpose there is a person. There is no one on earth without a specific purpose. The parable in Judges Chapter 9 is illustrative of this. There, the trees went on a mission to anoint a king over them. The trees first approached the olive to be their king, but it refused because it found satisfaction in its product being used in honour of God and man. Next to be approached was the fig which was also jealous of its sweetness and would not want to abandon that. The invitation was then given to the vine. On its part, the vine spoke of its wine that brings cheer to God and man and subsequently turned down the offer.

…not all opportunities should be accepted, and not all open doors are to be explored. When an opportunity presents itself, assess it in the light of what God has purposed for you to do.

The first thing to take to heart is that not all that glitters is gold. On the surface, the invitation given to these trees was an opportunity. Who would not want to be a king with all the attendant honour! However, these trees realized that becoming king would take them away from the core of what God created them to do. To accede to the request would mean moving from significance to irrelevance; therefore, they rejected the offer immediately. The moral of this parable is that not all opportunities should be accepted, and not all open doors are to be explored. When an opportunity presents itself, assess it in the light of what God has purposed for you to do.