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May 04, 2025 06:00am

Missed Opportunity

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Have you ever missed an opportunity?

I think about when I buy two pairs of shoes, and then the next day they go on sale as buy one, get one free. Or the coupon you find in your wallet for a free pizza, but the expiration date has already passed. Or what about the invitation to a friend’s party that got sent to your junk email? Or the house for sale that someone made an offer on before you could make one.

These are all missed opportunities that neither make nor break us. But what about the really important opportunities, like the opportunity to tell someone about Jesus?

Peter knew about missed opportunities. He had three chances to tell people about the Savior of the world, and instead he denied Christ each time. I imagine the sorrow and regret he felt as “he went out and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:62), and how much it must have haunted him after Christ’s death on the cross. But after Christ rose from the dead and strengthened His disciples with His appearance, Peter didn’t miss another chance.

In Acts Chapter 2, we read that Peter preached a bold sermon at Pentecost after the giving of the Holy Spirit. He no longer worried about what people might think of him, and he certainly didn’t mince words or tiptoe around the gospel:

This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised Him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it. (Acts 2:23–24)

He wasn’t afraid to call out sin. He wasn’t fearful of sounding foolish for proclaiming resurrection from the dead, although not everyone believed in such a thing. He wasn’t hateful, mean, or self-righteous; he simply spoke the truth:

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. . . . Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:36, 38)

And three thousand people were “cut to the heart” by his message, repented of their sins, believed in Christ, and were saved (2:37–41).

Later, we see Peter taking advantage of another opportunity to witness about Christ. After healing the lame beggar by the power of the Holy Spirit, there was a giant commotion in Solomon’s portico. People wondered how a man who had been unable to walk for more than forty years was suddenly “walking and leaping and praising God” (3:8). Peter didn’t shy away or simply join in the amazement—he spoke:

The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied . . . you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And His name—by faith in His name—has made this man strong . . . the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. (Acts 3:13–16, 19–20, emphasis added)

And when he spoke, at least five thousand people heard it and believed in Christ (4:4). Something had changed in Peter. He no longer worried about what his neighbors would think of him; he no longer worried about what the leaders of the town would do to him. In fact, he was even put in prison for proclaiming the resurrection of the dead in Jesus’ name (4:1–3)! But Peter didn’t care; he no longer missed an opportunity to speak about his beloved Lord and Savior.

Even when examined by the group of political and religious leaders who had put him in prison, Peter no longer cowered in fear. He didn’t have anxiety about offending anyone, and he didn’t fret about what might further happen to him. He simply took the opportunity to speak the truth and left the results up to God:

Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by Him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:10–12)

If we are honest, we have often been like the pre-crucifixion Peter when presented with an opportunity to share our faith in Christ. I think about the woman in the dentist waiting room who complimented my sweatshirt which read, “I am not my own but belong body and soul in life and death to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.” What a softball I had thrown at me! Later, I thought about how I could have easily said, “Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior?” Instead, I just said, “Thank you.” What a missed opportunity.

Thankfully and mercifully, because we are forgiven in Christ, God doesn’t wag His finger at us in disappointment (although we may feel conviction from the Holy Spirit) or punish us for being unfaithful servants; He gives us more opportunities.

It is important that we take those opportunities because “there is salvation in no one else” but Christ (4:12). Think about it. Without ever being told about repentance of sins and salvation and forgiveness in Christ, people are perishing. They would not belong body and soul to a faithful Savior who is able to keep them in this life until they reach eternal life in heaven; their body and soul will end up in eternal torment in hell. And if someone hadn’t taken the opportunity to tell us about Jesus, there we would be too. Praise the Lord that whoever told us about Jesus did not waste their chance!

Now let us put aside whatever fears and worries we have about our reputation, losing friends, losing jobs, being ostracized—or whatever our fear may be—and, like Peter and John, be people who “cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (4:20). People all around us need the life-giving message of the gospel of Christ. Will you boldly take your next opportunity?