Pray this prayer with me: Father, I choose to draw close to You in the middle of this mess. I know You have a blessing and divine provision waiting for me in the middle of this fire, and I trust You for it. Show me Your divine opportunity. Grant me the grace and faith to walk through Your door of opportunity and so pass from the fire into Your presence. In Jesus’ name, amen.

[The nobleman] said to him, “Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.”

If we lack energy in our kingdom lives, perhaps it is because we do not focus on the opportunities at hand. We must talk about the blessings that we possess and take time to test and taste our triumphs today. Jesus’ parable about the faithful servants in the gospel of Luke illustrates the way God loves to praise and reward us for even the smallest success and obedience.

When something bad happens to you, have you noticed how easy it is to dwell on it? We are far quicker to announce a pity party than we are to declare a victory celebration. How often do you take the time to say, “You know, the devil thought he had me. I did not think I was going to get up, but with God’s help, I did! This is a victory. I am just going to bake myself a cake and have a party in Jesus’ name.”

As parents, we have a bad habit of reinforcing sad habits in our children. When a child comes home with straight A’s, we pat him on the back and say, “Good job; I am glad.” If the same child brings home lower grades the next semester, we restrict his phone privileges and vividly relive the shame for a month! This is the ideal way to teach a child to remember failure rather than to celebrate victory.

When you encounter a tragedy, you need to say, “God has an opportunity somewhere in this tragedy that He wants me to exploit.” Seek out God’s blessings in the midst of life’s trials and tragedies. God does not want just anyone to benefit from His blessings, so He disguises them as something that no one wants to touch. Then, when you spend time in His presence, He shows you the rich blessings hidden under or behind life’s difficulties.

Just stick with God through your trials and He will show you a blessing that is bigger than anybody else could ever believe.