An Opportune Time

      Have you ever prepared for one thing but been asked to do another? This recently happened to me on our trip to Nicaragua. I was studied up and prepared to teach women about consecration, service, and evangelism. I had spent countless hours reading, finding verses, creating a working outline for the time we had, and praying over the women who would hear what God had to say about these topics. However, we ended up combining the women’s and men’s classes into one and my husband taught. On the surface of things, the reason for this was a lack of enough translators, but after the first two days, it was clear that God intended (and arranged) for Greg to teach. I was really OK with that because either way, I was in my comfort zone, but I was blown away when we went to visit a school on our second day there. I had inadvertently laid my Bible on the table in the kitchen area, and I just wasn’t mentally prepared when we walked down the hall and someone turned to me and said, “You’ve got this classroom full of girls.” My mind froze despite the comfort level I have speaking in front of teenagers of the same age at my school. All I could think was that I would never have the freedom to share with my students they way I could share with them, and I just couldn’t focus on what I wanted to say. I stumbled through a brief testimony and encouraged them to grab all the knowledge of Christ that they could while they had the chance. When I say brief, I mean really brief—less than five minutes—so when the translator turned to me and asked if I wanted to tell them a story, my mind went entirely blank. Fortunately for me, my wonderful husband stepped in and finished the time with some words of encouragement. I felt so defeated because afterwards I could hear the litany of I Pet. 3:15 running through my mind: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (NIV). After all the studies I’ve done, the years of reading (30), and the desire to share, it didn’t flow like I had thought it would. By the time we got to the next room, I was mentally prepared and had already apologized to God and asked for His words, so it went much better. I think it took me two days to get past my failure to stand and deliver upon request in what should have been my comfort zone. As Jesus said when speaking to his disciples in John 7:5b: “Your time is always opportune.” Our time is opportune right now, and we should always be prepared to give anyone we encounter the reason for the hope that we have. I will be better prepared for my experiences, but I pray that you’ll learn from mine that your time is always opportune.