One of my spiritual sons took a course at a Bible school sponsored by a large local church. On one occasion the senior pastor of the church spoke to the class about money. He said that when he had the financial resources to do what he wanted to do, he assumed that it was the Lord’s provision and, therefore, permission to proceed. My spiritual son was disturbed by this and called me. I pondered the question with him: Is provision to execute an opportunity tantamount to divine permission or is there something more to consider?
For insight on this question, consider the conflict between Saul and David. The Lord had rejected Saul as king after his disobedience (1 Samuel 15), and David was anointed to be the new king (1 Samuel 16) but he had not yet been installed as king. Saul became jealous and sought to kill him (1 Samuel 18). On one occasion while in pursuit of David, Saul entered a cave to relieve himself not knowing that David and his men were in the back of the cave. David had an opportunity to take matters into his own hands and accomplish God’s will by killing Saul. If David had killed Saul, he would have become king. But David refrained from killing Saul (1 Samuel 24). Though the opportunity was clearly there, David was guided by principle. The opportunity to kill Saul and become king was there, but he did not have a directive from God to kill Saul who was the Lord’s anointed king. David’s actions revealed that opportunity is not necessarily equal to permission.
Applying this principle, I explained to my spiritual son that financial provision may provide the opportunity to do something the pastor (who spoke to the class about money) believes God wants done, but it is not necessarily permission. One must be willing to look deeper and, specifically, one must seek to identify scriptural principles that provide guidance in making decisions.
Opportunities can be from the Lord or, sometimes, they are tests to see if we are willing to think more profoundly. Jesus was tested like this. After forty days of fasting, Jesus was hungry. The tempter (Satan) said to Jesus: “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread" (Matthew 4:3 CSB). Jesus was the Son of God and could have turned the stones into bread but didn’t. Instead, he said, "It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:3–4 CSB). For Jesus, opportunity was not equal to permission. Rather, he submitted the opportunity to Scripture seeking to discern God’s will. If this was Jesus' approach, shouldn't it be ours?
Here is our business tip. Provision may give the impression of opportunity. But opportunity is not enough to signal divine permission to do something. Organizational leaders and managers must learn to look deeper. When seeking to discern permission regarding any issue, one must consider not only provision for the opportunity but also divine revelation. One must apply relevant scriptural values, principles, and practices to the situation. God works congruent with his nature and calls us to work accordingly. Therefore, it is wisdom to assess opportunities against the norms of Scripture. When opportunity aligns with Scripture, we can be more confident that we are discerning the will of God. This is the proper way to lead and manage organizations.
